Day 9
by ghost141
Summary: Unknown best to Jack Bauer and rest of the characters in day 8, Renee Walker was later revived and extracted by the good guys. 18 months later, the aftermath of that day is only the beginning of the events to come...
1. Prologue

_**Author's Note:**_

_Ok, this is my first venture into the realm of fanfiction, and to be honest, I'm not really a good writer compare to good folks behinds some of 24 fan-fics on here and LJ. This is the result of me dealing with the infamous 8x17 and its aftermath. Basically, everything that was shown on TV still counts. There's only one exception: Unknown best to Jack and rest of the characters in season 8, Renee Walker is revived and extracted by the good guys in a manner somewhat similar to Tony in season 5. This "hidden chapter", or "deleted scene" as I'd like to call it, is me trying to ret-con what happened after 8x17. The chapter will be based entirely from original characters' point of view in order to avoid plot conflicts with post-8x17 episodes. It also serves as a prologue setting up the events for my version of "Day 9"._

_I will be using Tony's revival as the case for arguing the possibility of Renee's revival since in Tony's case is filled with fridge logic. Tony was pronounced clinically dead (his heart stopped) in season 5. Normally, if the person is pronounced clinically dead, there's only a very few minutes of window for the possible resuscitation (longer if the patient is under extreme temperature). Anything beyond that window will result in brain damage. There's no way for season 7's Emerson to extract Tony's body from CTU to an undisclosed location and assemble the medical team in mere 5 minutes assuming Henderson called him after he escaped from CTU! Therefore, Tony was clinically dead for longer than 5 minutes and got resuscitated with no brain damage what so ever (Well, he was still lucid enough to come up with such elaborate revenge scheme LOL). Therefore, since it's the world of 24, same thing can apply in Renee's case (Well, except for the revenge and turn bad part). Again__**, I'm not a doctor, nor do I work in medical industries**__ so the medical situations I described in the story here are strictly fictions._

_Anyway enough with my rambling :)_

_**Additional Research Notes:**_

**_OPR:_**_ Short for "Office of Professional Responsibility ". It's a branch of US Department of Justice that is responsible for investigating attorneys or federal employees in case of misconducts. (Those who watched the show "White Collar" should heard of them: P)_

_**SVR**__: The Foreign Intelligence Service of Russian. After KGB split into two separated agencies (SVR and FSB, which handles the internal security of Russia), the SVR is the successor of First Chief Directorate (FCD) of the KGB. _

_**GRU**__: Short for __Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye__, which is Russian's military intelligence directorate and currently Russian's largest foreign intelligence agency._

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P_

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**Prologue**

**08:55:34**

FBI Special agent Scott Riley rushed to his car from his favorite coffee shop, almost spilling his latte after he received a call from those guys at the tech. Scott was part of a small counter-intelligence task force in FBI's New York Field Office which was responsible for investigating the possibility of Russian coverts agents operating in United State. Despite the fact Cold War had ended, Russians had never cease to stop their espionage operations against the United State, and as time and technology progresses, their agents had perfected and adapted every means that would allow them to stay covert. Since the start of the investigation Scott's team had been getting nowhere. They know the spy network existed but cannot find any solid lead since every promising lead they had encountered had either been killed or te lead disappeared without a trace. That was until a week ago, his team caught a break in the form of Andrei Stukov. Stukov, a former sergeant in the Russian army, was a low-level operative that does most of dirty works. He is capable, but also careless. The FBI managed to put a bug inside his car to see if they can get any information that may eventually lead to the top level operatives in the Russian spy network in New York. The call Scott received a couple minutes ago was the result. However, that didn't mean it was all good news. From the content of the short exchange between Stukov and his boss, it appeared that Stukov's boss shot a potential witness and ordered Stukov to rush to St. Andrew's hospital to check her status. If she's not dead, then Stukov will finish the job. Scott, after starting his car, just remembered that his high school buddy, David Hughes, was a doctor who was currently working in St. Andrew's. He quickly dialed a number he hasn't dialed for a while…

"Hello?" An African American man dressed in green surgical scrubs answered.

_Thank god he is working the morning shift_ Scott thought. "It's Scott. Listen to me, Dave. There's gonna be a female gunshot victim arriving in St. Andrews any moment from now. I want you to do whatever it takes to keep her alive you understand me?" Scott stated as quickly as humanly could.

"What? Scott? How did you know that? CTU just called and said it is top priority to keep her alive also so don't worry about it. Besides, it's my job to keep people alive…"

"CTU called it in?" _Damn it_ Scott cursed. "Look I don't want to get into a jurisdiction pissing contest with those CTU asswipes! After the surgery can you do me a favor that makes sure I'm the first one who talk to her before those CTU paper pushers get to her first…Please" That was one of the reasons. The main reason Scott want to beat the CTU to the witness was because from what he heard, CTU was compromised by Russian sleeper agent a few hours ago. Despite CTU didn't officially state that to other agencies because of the embarrassment, this kind of information always had the way of slipping through the crack.

David hesitated for a moment. His high school friend was always straight with him, so there's no reason to think otherwise this time. "Alright! I will see what I can do, but I have to save the patient first before you play the jurisdiction tug-of-war with those CTU agents."

"Thank you Dave. I'm almost at the St. Andrews we'll talk then" Scott hanged up the phone and mentally cursed the New York traffic for the tenth time. Right now he just wished that potential witness makes out of the surgery, alive and conscious.

"OK see you then" Feeling nervous, David sighed and then hanged up the phone. Just as David hanged up he stepped into the hall in front of the operating room and saw the nurses wheeling a woman wrapped in a bloody white sheet to his direction. The dark auburn hair woman's pale face showed that she's obviously in a lot of pain. Also following the nurses was a man in a bloody shirt. The man was obviously worried about the woman who was currently lying on the stretcher, ready to be carried into the operating room.

"We're here. We gonna take care of you" The man in the bloody shirt said softly to the woman lying on the stretcher.

"O.R. 5 let' go!" One of the nurses shouted.

_Ah shit! From the looks of it she's losing a lot of blood._ David thought, then said in a professional manner. "How many gunshot wound?"

"One in the chest!" the nurse stated and then quickly turned to the man in the bloody shirt "Sir you need to stay right here" with her hand pointing to the space in front of the operating room. The man complied.

"Is the patient typing crossed?" David said to one of the nurses

"No"

"Call the blood bank; send up four units of O-negative."

"Right away!"

"Come on, come on, come on" Another nurse shouted.

As David began preparing the patient for the operation, another nurses said to him that there was no exist wound. _This is gonna be a tough one_ David thought.

**08:58:50**

Dave and nurses walked out of the operating room and saw the man in the bloody shirt talking on a cell phone worriedly. After David talked briefly to the nurses he then walked toward to the man in the bloody shirt. David really felt terrible about this despite the fact that he must have seen the similar tragedy on daily basis.

"I'm sorry she didn't make it. There was just too much arterial damage and blood loss. I'm very sorry" This is not some obligated response, but a sincere apology. David was very sorry about the whole situation. The woman's heart stopped and was pronounced clinically dead shortly before he got a chance to operate. He didn't even have a chance to exam the damage done by the large caliber round that was inside her. But from his experience dealing with gunshot wound victims, he thought the arterial damage and huge blood loss would be the correct deduction. When David told the man in bloody shirt the sad news, the man, who was obviously someone close to the woman, was shocked, and then began to break down. As the man's face conveyed the profound sadness. David then walked away from the man. He felt sick in his stomach and was about to throw up, but he fought the urge and started making the arrangements and telling the nurses to carried the unfortunate woman's body out of operating room.

At the same time, Andrei Stukov, was sitting on the hospital chair far down of the hallway. He was trying to act as inconspicuous as possible. To hospital staff and bystanders, he was just another person waiting for either doctor's appointment or waiting for someone. He kept his eyes on the operating room No.5 while trying to act normal. He then saw the door of the operating room opened, from the glimpse of it, it looked like the patient inside the operating room had died, and the reaction from the man who was waiting beside the operating room confirms that. He also saw the woman's body being wheeled out with a white sheet pulling over her head and the man in bloody shirt broken down in tears. Quickly walking away from the scene and trying to act casual, he called his boss

"Boss, that bitch is dead" Stukov's voice was barely above a whisper.

"You sure about that?" Pavel Tokarev said in an inquisitional tone. He knew that Stukov, despite capable, wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Yeah, I caught a glimpse of the operating room. She looks pretty dead. Those doctors wheeled out the body covered in sheet and that boyfriend of hers looked devastated. Should I end his misery?"

"No, ignore the secondary target. He's no longer a concern. We should be focusing on the Dana Walsh situation as of the moment"

"_da_" Stukov hanged up and quickly left the hospital.

After the nurses and David carried the woman's body out of the operating room and moving it along the hallway, Scott walked towards them and saw the body covered in white sheet. He flashed his FBI badge and told the nurses to excuse him and David for a moment. The nurses complied.

"Damn it!" He cursed.

"Sorry man, we did everything we could. The bullet just lodged inside her chest and her heart just stopped before…"

_This cannot happen! This cannot fucking happen!_ _We just caught a break in this case now this…Goddamn it! _As Scott let out a string of curses mentally. All the sudden, he had crazy an idea.

"Hey...Do you remember that time you resuscitate one of the Moretti brothers?" Scott said it to David. "I think this is the same situation as that" What Scott was talking about was an incident that happened a couple of years back when he was still working in organized crimes in NYPD. Morretti brothers were the made-men for the Gravelli crime family. One night the younger Morretti was shot in the chest by a rival gangster so the older Moretti brought his brother to St. Andrew's. David Hughes was on the shift that night and he also failed to save the younger Morretti initially because his heart stopped and the bullet was still lodged inside his chest. However, the older Moretti pulled a gun on David and the rest of the trauma team and demanded them to fix his brother. Afraid for his life, David had no choice but to comply even though the younger Morretti was pronounced clinically dead. Maybe it was the grace under pressure, or maybe it was just pure luck, David and the trauma team managed to restarted younger Morretti's heart just as the police, lead by Scott, arrived at the hospital and arrested David. Both Morretti brothers turned state witnesses and probably sitting on their asses in some dump in Arkansas.

"What?" David said while shooting a 'Are you serious?' look to Scott. "I think that time was just…pure fluke you know? Now you're asking me to pull miracles out of my ass again…"

"Look could you at least try? Please. I'm not gonna lose another witness in my investigation. If I don't find any shred of evidence the brass is gonna shut my investigation down, so please, just try again…"

_What the hell? Why the hell do you treat me like some evangelist who claims to have healing power?_ David thought. David hesitated for a very short moment and said "OK. I think I read some research about resuscitating clinical dead patient in a medical journal a while back. I will do what I can, but it's a long shot. If anyone finds out I could lose my license. You own be big, G-man." David stated while pointing his finger at Scott. "By the way, you might want to talk to her boyfriend over there"

"Deal. I'll handle the boyfriend. I also don't want the CTU to find out about this so I'll keep your ass safe. If anyone in the hospital ask question about this I will try to run interference to keep you from taking the heat by using my FBI authority"

"OK, I gonna get the body into another O.R. and call those nurses back. Now would you excuse me, I got to play Dr. Frankenstein again…" David pulled the woman's body into another operating room and started paging the nurses.

As he saw the nurses going into the operating room, Scott started to strategize the next move. CTU probably gonna expect an autopsy report but these things took time and the morticians were always late with those, so he wasn't overly concern about it. _But what if CTU decided to send people to St. Andrew's_? Scott pondered._ I guess I can think of some B.S. if they decided to show up. Now I need to find that boyfriend of hers…wait did her boyfriend get her here? Where is he now?_

As the surgery continued, Scott asked around about the woman's boyfriend. The nurses told him that the man left a short while ago and he was looking like someone who would likely to go postal. After Scott got a brief description of the boyfriend he thought it's best to keep him in the dark for now and let him know Scott's involvement after the surgery, since he didn't want to get that poor guy's hope up and then get it crashing down again. Although Scott was unsure what the outcome of the surgery will be, he believed in his friend's abilities. _Thank you so much for doing this, buddy. _He thought, then he silently prayed for the best outcome.

**10:12:34**

As David performed the surgery, Scott decided to call his boss at the Bureau to brief him on what happened.

"Agent Donahue" A man in his mid 50's answered.

"Hey boss, it's me. "

"Scott. Where the hell have you been? The boys at the tech told me that they got something from the bug that was in Stukov's car an hour ago, and it said that his boss shot a witness. Please tell me you secured the said witness…"

"Yeah boss. However there's something you should know. I kinda talked the trauma team into trying to resuscitate her after she's clinically dead…Right now only you, I and the trauma team at St. Andrew's know this. The Russians probably thought she's dead. Hell, I think even those jackwards at CTU thought she's dead."

"What the hell are you thinking?" Inside his office, Donahue coughed and shouted angrily. Fortunately his office door was closed and none of his words got out. With his palm on his forehead, Donahue said "Look, kid, this is the FBI not the organize crime task force in NYPD, we don't pull any cowboy shit like that you hear me? We have protocols which you should have followed: call NYPD to send uniforms to the hospital to secure the witness and then call CTU and brief them about Stukov and the possibility of resuscitation"

"Sir, with all due respect this is our investigation I won't let those bastards take the case away from us, again. They probably just put the case on their back burner like they usually do. Besides, wasn't CTU compromised by a Russian sleeper agent a couple hours earlier? What if there are more Russian sleeper agents in CTU? We can't take that chance without the risk of losing our only possible witness at the moment. Therefore I made a correct judgment call. If those assholes from OPR what make a fuss about this I'll take the heat…"

Donahue thought about it for a moment and said "Alright. I suppose that makes sense. How do you want to play it?"

"Sir, right now the trauma team is still working on resuscitating her. To be honest it's all touch and go at the moment. Right now I would suggest keeping CTU or other agencies out of loop and keep this information between us only. The outside world thinks she's dead and we need to keep it that way. You might need to use your authority to run some interference if anyone tries to look into this. After the trauma team finishes we'll decide our next course of action. By the way I didn't get the chance to take her picture and I need a warrant to access her medical files. Any idea who she is?"

"I got Eleanor checking through all the calls made to the St. Andrew's through the emergency channel. There's only one gunshot victim brought to that hospital. According to the call, her name is Renee Walker."

"Renee Walker" _That name rings a bell._ Scott thought "Wait…isn't that the chick who got fired for torturing a suspect right inside the DC Field Office?"

"That's her. How did you know that? That information is only privileged to HR and senior agents."

"Well, let's just say I hang out around the water-cooler a little too often. What her connection with our Russian spy ring?"

"As soon as her name came up I pulled her files from Bureau's employee database. According to her files, she served 16 months undercover in a Russian arm smuggling group. The crew was eventually arrested except theirs leader, Vladimir Laitanan. However, recent report states that he was found dead in a garage in downtown. The details are still sketchy at the moment. We found no evidence that this arm smuggling gang had any connection to Stukov or our Russian spy network. However, in her case report she did mention that she heard a rumor about a mysterious Russian crime syndicate called 'Red Square' when she was under, but she didn't find any evidence to prove it existed. I'm thinking that maybe this 'Red Square' is part of the Spy network we're looking for…Oh by the way, it seems like CTU also pulled her files last night and didn't bother to tell us why…"

_Typical CTU behavior_ Scott thought. "Well just like any other foreign intelligence service, Russians often use their ethnic criminal group aboard to smuggle equipments into the country. There might be two possibilities on why Russians want her dead. One, it's possible she's dirty and the Russians are cleaning house. I mean, I've seen cops return from undercover who sold out later." Scott suspected, since she did tortured a suspect.

"Well, I've briefly looked over her files and there's nothing indicate that. Besides, judging her files she was an outstanding agent."

"Ok, then another possibility might be that she somehow found the connection between this smuggler group, the 'Red Square', and the spy network, so Russians tries to take her out because of that. If you say she's not dirty then I'm very happy to think this is the case. Either way we might need to put her in our protective custody when she makes it out of the surgery alive"

"IF she makes it out of the surgery alive" Donahue emphasized on the _IF_ part. "I will try to cover for you here. If anyone asks just say you're chasing down a lead, and remember this: If the shit hit the fan you are gonna take the whole responsibility. There's already an interagency alert which requires all hands on deck so other agencies probably won't poking around this case at the moment. Just stay in the hospital for now and make sure nothing goes wrong. I'll monitor the situation from my end."

"Copy that boss" Now Scott was really worried. If other agency, especially CTU, got a wind of it he could lose his job, but that's not the least of his worries. If that woman couldn't be resuscitated, he will be facing possible charges of evidence tempering if those bastards from CTU decide to press charges._ She better be breathing again_. _If she dies on that operating table then I'm royally screwed_ Scott thought. At the same time, another thought crossed his mind. Donahue mentioned that there's an interagency situation. He checked his messages on his phone and found out there's a BOLO on a retired CTU agent name Jack Bauer. It stated that he's armed and extremely dangerous and possibility delusional due to stress. Scott couldn't have care less about it at the moment and luckily, it's the distraction that kept other agencies from snooping around his case. He decided that once the surgery is finished he will look into it.

**1:20:55**

In the past few hours Scott's boss had been calling him on a few times to check the development, and also to keep him updated on the surrounding situations. So far, they got the situation under the wrap as CTU and other agencies were more concerned about capturing the federal fugitive named Jack Bauer. Scott's phone rang again. The call was from his boss.

"Has Walker come out of the surgery yet?" Donahue asked.

"Yeah, it's been 3 hours and…"

Suddenly the door of the operating room opened. David walked out land taking off his surgical mask. He looked like a doctor after working through the 24 hours shift. Scott told his boss that he will get back to him and hanged up. He then asked David the million dollar question.

"Is she…"

"It wasn't easy but we managed to restart her heart again and repaired the arterial damage done by the bullet. She actually flat-lined once in the surgery but we managed to overcome that. It's fortunate that she's a fighter." Said David

_Thank God_. Scott thought.

"However, she's in a medically induced coma right now. You probably won't even able to talk to her until she wakes up, could be days due to the seriousness of her wound or possible infections, I'll be moving her to ICU for the time being"

"Yeah, can you please keep the situation under the wrap just a little longer please? I will talk to my boss then we'll decide whether or not to let the world know that she's still breathing." Scott then looked at David sincerely. "And thank you for doing this today."

David grinned. "As I said, you own me big. Besides, it's my job to save life and I just pulled a miracle out of my ass. That's gonna earn me some bragging rights…"

"Yeah" Scott also grinned. "Excuse me I gotta talk to my Boss" Scott called his boss again. David nodded and went into the operating room to help the nurses wheeling the resuscitated and a very pale Renee Walker out. With various see-through tubes attached to her body, she looked like a mess.

"Boss, good news, she's alive but she's unconscious…" Scott said.

"Well, I wish I could say the same thing on my end. We gonna have to shut down this case for now…"

"Why? What's wrong? Boss, we got a live potential witness…" Scott couldn't believe he's hearing.

"Andrei Stuko is dead, so as his boss…"

"What? How?"

"There's been an incident down at Turner's Department Store. It is reported that the federal fugitive, Jack Bauer, had engaged in a gun battle against three unknown assailants, and all three of them are dead. NYPD was the first responder and according to their first officer on the scene, one of gunmen matches the description of Andrei Stukov. However, CTU got there while the NYPD were still processing the scene and threw NYPD out. They locked down the crime scene under CTU jurisdiction. I tried to get our guys in but so far those assholes are stonewalling us with the usual national security crap."

"Typical asshole behavior" Scott said, while rolled his eyes upward.

"However, I spoke to the detective who processed the scene before CTU arrived. He managed to get a name, Pavel Tokerav, from Stukov's phone before it got confiscated by CTU agents. I already ran that name through every database I can think of. Turns out he's one of diplomatic attachés in the Russian delegation. Now here's the interesting part. I also looked up agent Walker's case files from her undercover assignment; he was also in a couple surveillance photos. In Walker's reports he was identified as Boris Baikov, one of Vladimir Laitanan's business associates. Since you said that Russian Intelligence like SVR loves to use Russian mob as the cover for their espionage operation, so I was thinking: What if this Tokerav character somehow found out about Walker and thinks she can ID him so…"

"He tries to take her out in order to stay in the shadow. He is the man behind Stukov. Great! Let's call the Justice and have them work out a warrant."

"I'm afraid that's not possible…"

"Why? Because that asshole got diplomatic immunity?" Scott tried to guess the reason.

"Because he's dead. NYPD found his body inside a building adjacent to Turner's Department Store. He was gutted like a fish…Those CTU agents have also taken jurisdiction control of that crime scene so we don't have much to go on and the reports are still quite sketchy at best. Right now our only two promising leads are dead. Therefore, this case is going nowhere."

"Why the hell does CTU try to act like they're covering up something with Russians?"

"I really don't know. Probably some quid-pro-quo is going on under the table".

_Assholes_ Scott cursed silently in his mind. "I bet Walker probably knows more…"

"I already double checked her case files with ours. No common denominator pops up except Tokerav, who we only found out about now. She probably can identify Tokerav but since he's dead and the evidences surrounding his death are being taken away by CTU, we can't do anything…I'll be calling US Marshals and get her into WITSEC since I doubt Tokerav kept this information to himself. If the Russian found out Walker's still alive they will come after her because they don't want their espionage operations exposed…"

"Yes boss, I'll wait for the Marshals and get a list of people who know at the hospital…"

"Good." Donahue said "Funny coincidence though. She actually worked with our current fugitive, Jack Bauer, a year ago for one day…"

Just as Donahue said that to Scott, Scott suddenly had an epiphany: From the nurses' description of her boyfriend actually matches the description of Jack Bauer. It's obvious that Walker knows Bauer since they had worked together before..._Damn it why didn't he realize that earlier. It all makes sense._

"Boss, I forgot to tell you this before because at the time I thought it's not an issue. According to the nurses, Walker was carried to the hospital by a man. I didn't see him but judging from the descriptions provided by those nurses and what you just said I'm a hundred percent certain that man is Jack Bauer. Now I'm guessing Walker is the reason why Bauer is on the interagency BOLO since the BOLO didn't say the reason why a former CTU agent became a wanted fugitive aside from the usual armed and dangerous crap. And that maybe related to why CTU seems to try to cover shit up for Russians? All of these are definitely related. Maybe if we get Bauer to come in by telling him Walker's alive, he will come in and maybe he can shed some light on this whole situation..."

"That's assuming that IF we can find him." Donahue emphasized on the IF part again "Besides, how do we get the word to him? We can't broadcast through other agencies since they might be compromised by Russian Intelligence, hence putting Walker in danger and you and I both know that protective custody won't stop those Russian SVR type. Even if we do get the word out discreetly is he gonna believe anything we said and come in like a good boy? I doubt that." Donahue sighed. "Look, right now our priority is to get Walker safely into WITSEC. We'll worry about this Bauer situation later once Walker is somewhere safe. I want you to go with US Marshals and make sure you question her as soon as she wakes up. And I want you to take good care of her before she disappeared into WITSEC. Despite her mistake, she was one of us…"

Scott agreed whole heartily about the last part. "Yes boss, I'll stay put and work with the Marshals when they arrive"

"Good. Keep me updated" Donahue said then hanged up

After Scott hanged up the phone, he still couldn't shake the regretful feeling that he should have track down Jack Bauer first and then tell him what he was trying to resuscitate her in the first place.

**03:47:42**

After President Taylor's shocking announcement that stated U.S. is withdrawing from the treaty at the Peace According signing, Russian President Yuri Suvarov, along with the Russian delegation, were preparing to leave the UN and headed to the Russian Consulate in New York to discuss the next course of actions. President Suvarov did not anticipate such drastic change of course of action from the President of United State. _After all, she was involved in the cover-up. Now President Taylor was going down and she seems to want to drag me down with her. What a bitch_. Suvarov thought. After he got into the limousine he asked his assistant for the encrypted satellite phone. President Suvarov never had thought he needed to call this particular person and ask him to do things his way, but now with the failed peace accord and the possibility of damaging Russian's international reputation hanging on his head, he knew that he had no choice. As the motorcade started to move, he dialed the satellite phone.

"Mr. President" Inside a lavish mansion in the outskirt of Moscow, A man in his early 50's answered.

"Have you been monitoring the situation in New York?" Suvarov asked.

"Both news networks and my assets in New York have kept me very well informed." The man was not only talking about what he had seen on various news channels. His network of assets within US government and law enforcement agencies had also kept him updated on the information that was not broadcast on TV.

"Then you know what to do. I want every trace of our involvements erased. Do you still have your people in New York?"

"They are already on stand-by, sir. As soon as I have your authorization they will begin to mobilize" The man actually lied. He already mobilized all of his teams and assets in New York as soon as President Taylor made the shocking announcement.

"You have my authorization to do whatever it takes to handle the situation. I don't need to remind you that your butt is on the line too" Suvarov hanged up. Suvarov thought since the man he was one the phone with was also the one who was instrumental for getting the nuclear fuel rod to the hands of the "Red Square", he will have more incentives to make sure the situation was completely sanitized and not to screw him over.

_If that imbecile Suvarov had listened to my suggestions 7 hours ago we won't be in this fucking mess in the first place._ Former GRU Colonel Nicholai Kirilenko thought after the conversation with President Suvarov. _Instead, he had to listen to that fruitcake politician Novakovich. Months ago I already told them that we need to take out Hassan's family too in case they decided to use Dalia Hassan to continue the peace treaty, but those weak-minded fools insisted that we're not barbarians. Now shit happened and that asshole Charles Logan was blackmailing us back to support the peace signing. Hell, my assets in New York were ready to take out both Dalia Hassan and Charles Logan covertly so those Americans have nothing to continue with their hypocritical peace treaty, and Russia can withdraw from it without damaging her international standing. Again, when I pitched the plan I got shot down by Novakovich. 'It's too risky' he said. So instead we caved in to Charles Logan's blackmail? What a weak-minded fool…_

As Kirilenko got up to refill his cup of Cognac from the mini bar, he also mused. _Despite the fact the past 24 hours didn't go as planned, this day wasn't a total loss. At least the peace treaty is off and that asshole Novakovich and his SVR posse, that smug-face Tokerav, lie dead thanks to that lunatic Jack Bauer. However there's also the possibility of me being exposed. Nevertheless, according to an old oriental saying, Crisis means danger and opportunity. I could easily handle the danger of being exposed or being used as sacrificial lamb if I plan my cards right. Now, with that meddlesome Novakovich gone, I can use this opportunity to expand my influence inside the walls of Kremlin…_

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Hope you guys enjoy the story! :) Please Read and Review**


	2. 8:00AM 9:00AM

_**Author's Note:**_

_First, a big thanks for all of the readers and those kind reviews. Again, please tell me what you guys think. Constructive Criticisms are definitely welcome!_

_Second,__** I'm not a lawyer nor do I work in any law related organization.**__ Therefore, some of the stuff I described below might be off comparing to the real life. Same applies for government agencies and their respective protocols. These are fictional situations so some creative liberties are exercised here :D._

_Basically, "Day 9" begins 18 months after the events of Day 8 (including what happened in the prologue). Jack Bauer was on the run from every law enforcement agencies around the world, and Renee Walker, after being resuscitated successfully, was placed in the witness protection program. Just like previous "days" of 24, new characters are introduced. This chapter is mostly set-ups for the events to come. Anyway, enough with my rambling. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P_

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**The following takes place between 8:00AM and 9:00AM**

**Events occur in real time.**

**8:05:25**

**FBI LA Field Office**

"In international news, tensions rise between Russia and Islamic Republic of Kamistan worsened as Russian President, Yuri Suvarov, announced in a public speech today that he vows to punish those who were responsible for the nerve gas attack on three of Moscow's subway terminals three weeks ago. The death tolls from the attack are among thousands. The Russian authority had found two male bodies near the origin of the nerve gas attack in the Borovitskaya station. According to Russian authority, those two men were identified as IRK intelligence agents operating in Russia. As FSB, Russia's internal security service continues cracking down on possible terrorist cells, Russia's Caspian Sea and Black Sea fleets had left their respective ports and Russian ground forces are mobilizing towards the Kamistan's border. A spoke person from Russian Foreign Ministry has stated strongly that the current IRK government, led by President Dalia Hassan, is no better than the extremists she sought to replace, and this cowardly attack is the proof of that. Crisis talks were held at UN five days ago between US, Russia, and Kamistan. However, no peaceful resolutions were reached. So far, diplomats and government officials from all three sides are continuing to meet in various capacities hoping to avert the crisis…Ever since the allegations made by both US and IRK leaders about Russian government's involvement in the assassination plot against the late IRK President, Omar Hassan, US and IRK's relation with Russia Federation have degraded exponentially. The Russian Foreign Ministry had repeatedly denied those allegations, stating that those accusations are false and Russia is being used as a scapegoat by both US and IRK to hide their embarrassments of the failed peace treaty, and those accusations has helped fostering the extremist elements inside Dalia Hassan's government. So far, the UN's special investigatory commission has found no evidences of Russian involvement in the said assassination…"

FBI special agent Scott Riley watched the talking head spoke on the flat screen TV installed high up on the structural column of the floor. After wrapping up the case on the Russian spy network in New York, Scott and his boss handed whatever they had found to the Attorney Generals and UN investigators, but in truth, they didn't find much. His boss, special agent in charge Ted Donahue, retired from the Bureau due to health reason. Scott, who had fed up with dealing with same bureaucrats in the various agencies in New York, was eager for a fresh new start. As a result, he applied for a transfer to the Los Angeles Field Office.

At the moment, he learned on his desk and pondered whether the decision he and his former boss, special agent Donahue made about keeping Renee Walker in WITSEC for indefinite time was a correct one or not, especially after he had found out what she had known after he debriefed her. According to Renee Walker, Pavel Tokerav, who disguised himself as an EMT, was at the scene where the late President of IRK, Omar Hassan's body was found. This and the fact that Samir Mehran, the IRK extremist and Omar Hassan's murder, was found poisoned to death by unknown substance, should create probable cause for the investigators to look into the Russian angle. However, the Russians seemed to be one step ahead of them. For starters, they had completely erased any of their records regarding Pavel Tokerav and his operatives. Somehow, they even managed to make it look like Tokerav was never a diplomatic attaché within the Russian delegation. _Those Russians probably greased a lot of wheels to make that happened…_As of now, Pavel Tokerav was just another two bit criminal within the Russian organized crime as oppose to an intelligence operative working under the diplomatic cover. Therefore, Renee's possible testimony could not be used in ICJ (International Court of Justice) if there was any sort of prosecution to be made. Knowing the length the Russians were willing to take to ensure their skeletons stays buried, Scott and Donahue decided it was for the best if Renee remains in the witness protection program. Initially, this decision didn't go well with Renee, as she was more concerning about finding Jack Bauer and exposing the Russian conspiracy. However, Scott managed to convince her to stay in the WITSEC. He simply reminded Renee that she still needed to recover from her life-threatening gunshot wound and witness protection program could protect her while doing so. Renee, whom at the time couldn't up from her hospital bed, reluctantly agreed.

"Hey, what are you thinking?" A young woman approached him. Sarah Ferris, who had just graduated from FBI Academy in Quantico months ago, was assigned as Scott's partner.

"Un..Nothing. By the way, I asked you to run that name I gave you yesterday. Do you have anything?" The name Scott asked Sarah to run through the FBI database was from one of Scott's old informant in New York. His informant was a Russian businessman named Peter Sokolov, who had various shading dealings with the Russian mob and corrupted Russian officials. This kind of person wasn't scared easily. However, about a week ago Scott received a call from him, and at that moment Sokolov sounds like he had already wet his pant. He claimed that the nerve gas attack in Moscow was orchestrated by a former GRU Colonel named Nicholai Kirilenko, not some IRK radicals. Normally, Scott would discard such information as whacky conspiracy theories. However, when it came to solid tips, Sokolov was reliable, and the fact that Sokolov's body was found two days later after his conversation with Scott further increased his suspicion.

"You mean Nicholai Kirilenko? Yeah, that name did come up once in our database." Sarah said causally. "It was from an old case file involves an undercover operation against a Russian arms smuggling ring in New York. Kirilenko was mentioned once in the report. However, that said report wasn't that useful"

_A Russian arm smuggling ring in New York?_ Scott thought. "Why is the report not useful?"

"Well for starters, there's no surveillance photo or voice ID of this Kirilenko character. According to the report, the agent only found out about the name Kirilenko because the target of the investigation, Vladimir Laitanan mentioned it. The undercover agent tried to get Laitanan to enter a business partnership with Kirilenko hoping that might leads to more information on a mysterious Russian crime syndicate called 'Red Square'. However, that didn't work out, so the lead went dead…Now, any report that involves prolonged undercover operations usually means that only special agents in charge have the clearance to access the names of agents who involved in the operation. It's a security measure to prevent those agents' names from getting leaked. Therefore, if we want to talk to the undercover agent or agents who were involved in the operation, we need to get the proper security clearance first, which means it could take days."

_Damn those red tapes._ Scott thought. _A Russian arm trafficking ring in New York, Vladimir Laitanan, and Red Square, all of those really sounds awfully familiar…_

"It's kinda freaky though" Sarah said. "It seems CTU did a follow up report which pretty much closed the case. The follow-up report didn't tell us much either. It only states that most of the players involved in that case are now dead, even the agent is listed as deceased…I guess we hit a dead-end on this Kirilenko stuff…"

Suddenly, Scott had a light bulb moment. _Damn it why didn't he think out it sooner._ He cursed at himself. _That's Renee's case! That case got her 'killed' supposedly and now she's in WITSEC._ As Scott pondered his thought, his suspicion about Sokolov's claim grew even stronger. At the same time, he couldn't help but to worry the possibility that this Kirilenko was connected to the assassination of Omar Hassan a year prior, especially after hearing that Renee had mentioned that name in her report.

Sarah leaned forward and gave Scott a slight nudge in the arm. "Hey, you want to share what you have in mind? You're really in the zone a couple minutes ago…"

"Un…I was just thinking about the other case... Who else knows about this?"

"Right now just you and me."

"Good. I want to keep it that way. Did Kristin help you ran this through our database?" Scott was referring to Kristin Gordon, the resident analyst at Los Angeles Field Office.

"No way! You know I don't like her. She always has this 'I'm better than thou' attitude when I was talking to her. I guess she doesn't like me either" Sarah sighed. "Besides, I know how to run queries in the FBI database by myself…"

Scott and Sarah then looked in the direction of Kristin Gordon's cubicle. In her cubicle, Kristin Gordon was too busy looking at her monitors to notice that both Scott and Sarah were looking at her. Even if she noticed them she wouldn't even bother with them, simply because she thought her job was more important.

"Well, sometimes you just need to work with people you don't like. I mean, you can't choose your co-works, partners, or boss." Scott said to Sarah. "Besides, Kristin isn't that bad. She just takes her job very seriously. After you get to know her a little more you'll see that she's not as cold as she seems…Oh, speaking of the boss, I need to go chase down a possible lead about this and it's probably gonna take a whole day, so I need you to cover for me with Hoffman." Stan Hoffman was the special agent in charge of the LA field office, and he was also Scott's new boss. Comparing to his old boss, Donahue, Hoffman was a lot stricter with protocols. In fact, he was quite controlling. He didn't like Scott running around chasing leads without informing him first about the details.

"Again?" Sarah groaned. "What possible lead? Another drunken Russian?" Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Look. I'm playing this pretty close to the chest. If the lead turns out solid this will be one of the biggest cases you will ever have a chance to work on…so please?" Scott gave Sarah a look similar to kids begging their mother for allowance. "I'll make it worth your while…"

Sarah hesitated for a moment then said "Alright. I want tickets to the Iron Weasel concert! You know, Hoffman probably gonna have your badge for this since it's the third strike if you get caught. If Hoffman asks I'll tell him that you told me you are chasing down a lead in that Medoza case." Sarah then teasingly said. "You better get me the front row seat."

"OK. So front row seat it is." Scott grinned. After talking to Sarah he grabbed his jacket and headed to the elevator.

**8:26:12**

As Scott's car left the LA Field Office, he was unaware that someone was monitoring his movement. Inside a blue sedan parked near the FBI's LA Field Office, Vasili Chernov, sitting in the backseat, was looking at his netbook screen. The red dot indicating Scott's location was clearly shown on the detailed wireframe map of the city.

"He's out of FBI, should we take him now?" The man seating in the passenger seat asked while reading his MP5k-PDW submachine gun.

"Not yet. It's possible that he is going to meet another informant. We follow him and if he is indeed doing so, then we take both him and the informant out, save us some troubles."

"_da_" The driver nodded and began to tail Scott's car. The driver knew that with the tracking device he could easily hanged back more car lengths than usual so that they wouldn't draw the target's suspicion.

All three men, including Chernov, were former GRU operatives. After disposing Peter Sokolov, Chernov went through Sokolov's phone record and found out he had been talking to an FBI agent in LA. After contacting a well placed source inside the FBI, Chernov found out about name of that FBI agent. As a result, he ordered that source to put a tracking device in Scott's phone while he flew to LA, hoping this was the last of the mess he had to clean up under the orders from Kirilenko.

**8:28:32**

**Undisclosed Private Holding Facility**

Inside a narrow hallway, a prisoner in shackles with a black hood over his head was being dragged forward by two huge muscular security personnel dressed in black. Also accompanying the prisoner were another four security guards. They wore armored tactical vests and carried an MP5A3 submachine guns outfitted with RIS handguards and foregrips. Two of them were positioned in front of the prisoner and the other two were positioned in the back of the prisoner. These fully armed men distanced themselves couple feet from the man with the black hood. They were moving in such formation was not because they were afraid of the prisoner. It was for added security measures. In case the prisoner managed to overpower the security that was currently dragging him, those fully armed men could easily train their weapons at the prisoner without having to worry the prisoner disarming them in close range.

Finally they arrived in front of another room where another two other securities guards with the same weapons and load-outs stood guard. One of the securities guards punched the code on the keypad besides the door and then the door opened. Inside the room there was a steel table with two steel chairs, and a man wearing black suit and a red tie. The two security guards in front entered the room and stood guard in both left and right corner of the room. The shackled prisoner was then dragged inside and then seated while being re-shackled to the steel chair in front of the steel table. The armed security guards in both corners of the room raised their weapons at the prisoner until he was completely re-shackled. Afterward, the man in the black suit gave the order to those security guards to take the hood off the prisoner, then the man gave a head gesture telling the extra security personnel to leave. All but the two guards standing in the left and right corner of the room compiled.

"Mr. Bauer, it's a great honor to finally meet you." The man in the black suit said in a calm manner. "You're a hard man to find."

Jack Bauer remained in silent. Only give the man a cold stare.

"I'm General Jeremiah Rawlins, United State Army. I must apologize for the security measures. You can never be too careful nowadays."

"Where am I?" Jack said, without showing any emotion at all.

"You are currently in a private holding facility in California." General Rawlins said as he sat down across the table.

"Why am I here?" Jack asked, again, without any emotion.

"I have a situation I think you can help me with…"

"With all due respect, General, I cannot help you with whatever the situation you have. I'm an international fugitive. Every law enforcement agency in US wants me captured and the Russians want me dead for what I did about 18 months ago. Unless you want to throw me in jail and take away the keys then I suggest you stop wasting your time!" Jack said.

"Trust me, if my men haven't dragged you out of whatever hell hole you were hiding, you would be sitting in some Russian gulag in Petropavlovsk. I don't expect a 'thank you' but at least you can hear out what I have to say first. Besides, you're not going anywhere at the moment."

Jack continued to stare at General Rawlins coldly. At the moment he didn't give a damn about the General or his situation, but at same time, he was also shackled to a steel chair with fully armed security guards standing on his left and right position. The chance of him escaping was slim to none.

The General continued. "As you know, before President Taylor resigned and handed herself to the Attorney Generals, she made a join press statement with IRK President Dalia Hassan about the Russian government's involvement in the assassination plot against the late President Omar Hassan. As one would expect, the Russians denied those allegations. Unfortunately, UN's investigatory commission didn't find any evidence of Russian government's involvement in their independent investigations. Plus, at the time there have been rumors that Taylor wasn't in the right state of mind on that day. With IRK's spotty records of coming up with false accusations in the past, the entire thing soon evolves into a diplomatic Charlie Foxtrot. As a result, the world is in an even more sorry shape than before. Russians are sore at us and people of Kamistan are even more pissed off at the Russians…"

"I thought President Taylor had the recording I made, the data card contains the conversation between Charles Logan and Suvarov." Jack said. The mention of Charles Logan made his rages boiled inside him. At the same time, he tried not to show it.

"From what I heard, what President Taylor had was your message to your daughter. If what you said is true, then my guess is that Charles Logan must have wiped the content that implicates both him and Suvarov in that data card." General Rawlins said calmly.

"What about Meredith Reed? I gave her the video recording Dana Walsh made about Pavel Tokerav." Jack couldn't hide his anger now. The mere mention of Pavel Tokerav, Renee's killer, made him loose control. Pavel Tokerav took the one person who was very important to him and the pain from the loss was just too much for him to bear.

"That reporter Meredith Reed was dead. A sniper got her when the FBI was transporting her to a more secure location, and the video recording you mentioned had simply disappeared. I think Russians was able to intercept it when we're processing it through the chains of evidences…"

Jack pondered for a moment, and then he said. "There's also a man named Sergei Bazhaev. He's the head of the Russian crime syndicate 'Red Square'. He told me that the Russian government was behind the assassination plot…"

"Sergei Bazhaev was found dead in a holding cell. From what I heard, pretty much every member of this so-called 'Red Square', and their families were either killed or simply disappeared without a trace. It wasn't surprising that after President Taylor's announcement the Russians had worked diligently to erase any evidence that could implicate Moscow. The UN is gonna conclude their investigations soon, and they will probably say that the only perpetrators involved in the assassination are radical elements from IRK and Russian organized crime. Unfortunately, the Hayworth administration has no intention of pursuing this any further, considering they want to try repairing our relationship with the Russians, so they tried to downplay the events on that day as much as possible…"

Truth to be told, Jack somewhat expected this grim outcome. Despite he got little to none of the news concerning the aftermath of what happened on that fateful day, he always had the feeling that the truth did not get exposed and justice was not served. _All those people, including Renee, had died for nothing, the peace treaty was in shambles and now those who are responsible are still not brought to justice._ Jack thought, and sickened by this realization.

"Unfortunately, right now I don't think anyone want to bring up this matter in Washington, especially in the diplomatic front. Ever since that terrorist attack in Moscow three weeks ago, in the eyes of the world, the Russians are now the victims, and they are currently trying to paint the government of Dalia Hassan as the same extremists, since bodies of IRK intelligence agents were found at the site of the attack. Even with the UN Security Council around, all of these gave the Russians a free pass at taking a shot at Kamistan. As you heard on the news, Russian ground forces and naval fleets are mobilizing as we speak."

"What does President Hayworth plan to do about this situation?"

"Unfortunately, just like other politicians in Washington, Hayworth wants to play a role of peacemaker, which he thinks it will give him a boost in the upcoming election. Aside from not pursuing the investigation against the Russians and trying to appease them, President Hayworth thinks he can resolve the situation peacefully by convincing Dalia Hassan to step down as the President of IRK..."

_What the hell?_ Jack cursed mentally. _Those Russians are the one who were responsible for the assassination, nuclear threat, and all that crap happened on that day and now we're not holding them accountable for what they did? And what's with politicians' desire to be peacemakers anyway, especially when the peace they seek is more about political gains and leverages as oppose to the actual peace? Even honorable people, like President Taylor, became one of those politicians because of that. _Jack then thought about what he said in the recorded video message to his daughter. _Lasting peace cannot simply be political; it has to be born out of trust and honesty and understanding and most importantly, a will of both sides to move forward…_

"However, I have a solution that can prevent this flashpoint from flare up without having one of our potential allies in the region. As one expects, the people who are currently pushing for military actions are hardliners inside and outside the walls of Kremlin, and the current top guy among them is one Nicholai Borisovitch Kirilenko, a former GRU colonel and now a very influential businessman." Rawlins then took out a photo from a folder on the table and placed the photo on the steel table for Jack to see. The black and white surveillance photo showed a sunglass wearing Kirilenko with some other men. "Ever since you took out Novakovich, Kirilenko has been shelling out his hard earned fortune in an attempt to further increase his influence and power, and so far his reach is spreading fast because he got a vast amount of fortune from the oil and natural gas pipelines in the Caspian Sea region and the alleged WMD trafficking deals from his old GRU days." General Rawlins said, like stating facts in a mission briefing.

"What does Novakovich has to do with Kirilenko?" Jack asked.

"Novakovich was the one who had kept Kirilenko and other hardliners in check in Moscow, possibly through blackmail or other under the table tactics, but now that is no longer the case…"

"If you are asking me to regret what I did to Novakovich, you're wasting your time, because I don't" jack said, show hints of anger.

"I'm not asking you to regret anything." General Rawlins leaned toward to Jack. "What I'm asking you to do is that you take Kirilenko out. You see, if Kirilenko was dead, it will create a power vacuum among the hardliners. While those hardliners are busy fighting among themselves to see who's gonna become the top dog, our diplomats can easily use this window of opportunity to talk to the doves inside Kremlin and getting them to halt the military activities, and maybe, withdrawing their forces from Kamistan border. All of that can be accomplished without sacrificing one of our potential allies in the region…Before you object, the things is, no one is gonna miss Kirilenko one bit after he's gone, even the hardliners hated him. Besides, according to my intel, he is one who gave those uranium rods to those Russian gangsters in New York 18 months ago, which makes him part of the Russian cabal who was responsible for the death of many others in that day, including President Omar Hassan, and former FBI agent Renee Walker…"

Upon hearing her name, Jack's face became profoundly sad. In his mind, he thought he had failed her. He had failed to protect the woman he loved and also, he had failed to bring justice for her afterward, either by law or by any means necessary.

"If you got information that he is involved in the assassination and nuclear threat of that day you should hand that information to the Justice or UN!" Jack said angrily.

"That piece of intel was obtained through, should I say, 'unconventional means', out of a suspect, which means that it will never hold up in any court."

After General Rawlins said that, there was silence inside the room, Jack continued to stare at the photo and General Rawlins waited for Jack's response.

"Look, Jack, if you don't want to do it that's ok. I understand…"

"Do you have a location on Kirilenko?" Jack said with his full determination. He wanted to bring Kirilenko down.

"Currently, there's a high level talk between US, IRK, and Russian held in Hilbert Grand Hotel. Both IRK and Russia had sent their foreign ministers to meet with the secretary of the state. This meeting is where the secretary of the state tries to sell President Hayworth's idea to both Russia and IRK: Russia will back down if President Dalia Hassan resigns. Kirilenko is also part of the Russian delegation. I think he's one of advisors or something like that. Therefore, this is one golden opportunity for us to take him out…If it's all works out we just might prevent a war…"

"General Rawlins, let's get one thing straight, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because all of those people who died on that day deserve some justice one way or another. I know the reason you choose me for this operation it's because you want to make this operation deniable. If the operation succeeds you take all the credits. If the thing goes south, you can easily deny everything because I'm an international fugitive. That, to me, you're no better than those politicians who value political gains…"

Anger suddenly flashed through General Rawlins's face. He got up from his seat and got close in Jack's face. "I don't care what you think, Bauer, but get this: You ain't the only one who suffered loss and injustice. Let me tell you something, several years ago, I watched my family, including my granddaughter, got vaporized by that nuclear bomb in Valencia and those jokers on the Hill did nothing! After that, do you think I only do this for the political gains? I didn't give a damn about those years ago and I'm not gonna start now, so don't you dare to put me and those kinds of politicians in one sentence…" General Rawlins said to Jack in full anger.

Two men then continued stared at each other intensely. After a very short while General Rawlins backed off from Jack and walked to the door. He punched the key code on the keypad and said "Get your shopping list ready. My men will get anything you need and then dropped you near the Hilbert Grand Hotel." General Rawlins paused for a few second. "Thank you, Mr. Bauer". He then walked out of the interrogation room and closed the door.

Jack sympathized General Rawlins' situation regarding his family, but he still didn't care about the international politics. At the moment he did care about one single objective: making sure anyone who had a hand in Renee's murder pays their due.

**8:49:21**

**Hilbert Grand Hotel**

Inside a lavish conference room, the Secretary of the State, Kevin Ross, was meeting with the IRK foreign minister Sayid Al-Fulani. Ross was trying to convince Al-Fulani to take the solution: President Dalia Hassan steps down and Russians withdraw their forces, to President Dalia Hassan in order to defuse the situation. Ross already talked to the Russian foreign minister, Semyon Lugansky. Just as Suvarov, Lugansky was not really keen on going to war with IRK either. However, they also want, though other means, to extend Russian's influence in the region, which was also the goal shared by those hardliners as well. Ross knew that the hardliners in Moscow tried to force President Suvarov to take military action against IRK and now Suvarov was playing it cautiously by only moving Russians military near the IRK border instead of advancing into the IRK territory. Ross, as well as President Hayworth, thought the solution of having Dalia Hassan resign would satisfy both doves and hardliners inside the walls of Kremlin and gave Suvarov means to withdraw his forces without being ousted by the hardliners. _If that happened, things will be a lot worse._ Ross thought. However, minister Al-Fulani didn't seem to like the idea so far…

"This is absolutely not acceptable!" IRK foreign minister Sayid Al-Fulani said angrily to the Secretary of the State. "Mr. Ross, you of all people understands that President Dalia Hassan is very popular among the people of Kamistan. She is the wife of a martyr and the political coalition her husband built has never been stronger. She has worked hard to achieve the current stability. Now you are asking her to throw all of her hard work and sacrifice away simply because those Russian thugs pointing their guns at us? No foreign powers should dictate our politics…"

"Look, your intelligence agents were involved in a terrorist attack against Moscow. Right now, because of that, Russian got the moral high ground this time. Fortunately, the Russians are playing nice and showing restraints at the moment. If it was before, those Russian tanks were already advancing towards your capital, but that's not the case this time. I already talked to the Russian foreign minister. He said that he agreed with the solution and willing to work with that. Now, if Russia actually wages war in your country, you know the consequences is not gonna be pretty. Your economy and infrastructure will be set back for ten years without guarantee of recovery…I think we all want to solve this peacefully without making the people of Kamistan suffer." Ross said. Hoping that the IRK foreign minister got the message.

"You are speaking of peace yet you are helping Russians threaten us with war! Even if I agree to this and take the offer to President Hassan she will never agree to this injustice! Those intelligence agents were already missing three weeks prior to the attack. One thing is certain: they are certainly not operating on our authorities, and we already made our case in the international media and the UN. If the Russian refuse to believe that, then that's their business. The truth is the truth. This meeting is over." Al-Fulani and his aides got up from their seats and left the conference room.

_President Hayworth is not gonna like this._ Ross thought. _However, the day is long enough to convince Al-Fulani to think otherwise. We still have some tricks in our sleeves._

**8:55:20**

**Chatsworth**

After Scott met up with the US Marshal handling Renee Walker's relocation, they headed to Renee Walker's apartment in Chatsworth. He was surprised that WITSEC didn't dump Renee in middle of nowhere. _I guess that nowadays with all of these movies and TV shows, bad guys are probably starting to get it and willing to travel to Midwest to look for witnesses._ Scott thought of the possible reasons for Renee being relocated to LA. During the car ride, Inspector Elena Ramirez told Scott that Renee Walker was currently living under the alias of Anne O'Connor and she was working as a temp in a local insurance firm. Just so happened, today was her day off.

Inspector Ramirez was worried about Renee because ever since her discharge from the hospital she had been uncooperative with respect to WITSEC protocols. At first, Renee was relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico. However, while she was being processed in US Marshal's Albuquerque office, she somehow managed to access one of the inspector's computers in order to find Chloe O'Brian's current whereabouts. The US Marshals was able to stop Renee before she even got into the database. Afterward, they gave her a very strong verbal warning about the danger of contacting her former associates. They told her it not only violates WITSEC protocols, it also puts her former associates at greater risk.

As a result of that, she was relocated again to California. Inspector Ramirez handled her relocation this time. Ramirez mentioned that while living in LA, Renee had tried to leave the country by planning to go through US-Mexican border, claiming that she needs to find Jack Bauer, the wanted international fugitive. However, US Marshals were able to intercept her before she ever had a chance of leaving LA. Inspector Ramirez also stated that she worried that Renee is gonna get herself killed again if she kept violating the protocols like that in the future.

_During her debriefing at the hospital, I already told her that Chloe O'Brian was arrested for aiding and abetting a federal fugitive because she helped Jack Bauer escaping. Although I heard that she was later released after serving a reduced sentence...Probably because of some lenient judge or something like that...I guess Renee probably thought she can track down Jack through her..._Scott thought. He did not involve in Chloe O'Brian's arrest because he was working on secretly transferring Renee to the US Marshal's custody at the time. However, he did get some updates from his boss at the New York field office. _I guess Renee's one stubborn chick. That Jack Bauer guy must be one lucky son of a bitch to have a girlfriend like her. _Scott mused, with a grin on his face.

After they parked, they entered the apartment complex and found the apartment Renee was staying. Inspector Ramirez had called her ahead to let her know she and Scott were coming to prevent any confusion. After Ramirez knocked, the door opened and a woman in plaid shirt with her dark auburn hair tied in a neat low ponytail gestured them to come in. Truth to be told, Renee wasn't that thrilled to see both Scott and Marshal Ramirez…

**08:59:57...08:59:58...08:59:59...09:00:00**

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**Hope you guys enjoy the story :) Please Read and Review**


	3. 9:00AM 10:00AM

_**Author's Note:**_

_Again, thank you guys for all your kind reviews and thank you guys for reading this story. I really appreciate it. Also, constructive criticisms are welcome._

_Before the story begins, I would like to apologize in advance for slower future updates. Besides life's obligations, I also need to map out the remaining 22 chapters/episodes in order to make the story flow better, and I also need to do some research on some of stuffs for later chapters/episodes. As for sentence structures and orthography, I'll try to watch out for those in the future. (Again, I'll admit I'm not a writer here :P). _

_Anyway enough with my rambling. This chapter is kinda Renee-centered. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!_

_**Additional Research Notes:**_

_**VDV**__: Short for "Vozdushno-Desantnye Voiska", Russian Airborne Troops._

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P_

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**Previous on 24**

Jack Bauer agreed to help General Rawlins assassinating Nicholai Kirilenko, the man who was responsible for the events of that day 18 months ago as well as the nerve gas attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago. FBI Special Agent Scott Riley tried to get more information on Kirilenko by going to Renee Walker because Kirilenko's name appeared on her case file. However, Kirilenko's men followed him…

**The following takes place between 9:00AM and 10:00AM**

**09:03:45**

**Chatsworth**

This is actually the first time Scott saw Renee Walker since he debriefed her in an undisclosed medical facility operated by US Marshals Service. As Scott and Inspector Ramirez entered Renee's apartment, Scott slowly scanned the room. The layout of Renee's apartment was simple. There were a Kitchenette and a small dining table on his left. Besides the dining area there was a small living room with couches and a small coffee table. The bedroom and the bathroom were on Scott's right side, which were beside the living room and the dining area. One odd thing Scott couldn't help but to notice was that all of the blinds and curtains in her apartment were closed, even though it was a perfectly sunny day today. _It's better not to ask._ Scott thought. _She's probably still traumatized by the shooting that occurred one and half years ago._

"So can I get you guys anything? Coffee? Water?" Renee tried to sound as causal as she could.

"No, thank you." Inspector Ramirez said as she took a seat at Renee's dining table chair.

"Coffee's fine" Scott said, also taking a seat.

Renee poured both Scott and herself a cup of coffee. "Look, if this is about the time I tried to leave LA... I'm sorry about that, but I still need to find Jack and let him know I'm still alive before he get himself killed…I mean, according to you guys, he already attempted to assassinate the President of Russia Federation. I can't let him go down to that path because of me…I also don't want to put Chloe or her family in danger by contacting her so please, at least let me try to find him by myself…"

"Renee, we've been over this a hundred times. If you went off reservation by yourself without notifying the US Marshals, we won't be able to protect you. From what Scott and the FBI had told me, the Russian intelligence wants you dead, and you and I both know the consequences if they knew you're still alive. Besides, Jack Bauer is an international fugitive hunted by all of the law enforcement agencies around the world…" Inspector Ramirez said sternly as she tried to convince Renee that it's in her best interest to obey the WITSEC rules. She needed to make sure Renee follow the rules to the letter so that she could keep her safe.

At the same time, Scott could clearly see the profound sadness in Renee's light blue-greenish eyes upon Jack Bauer's name being mentioned even though she tried to hide it and stay strong. Before Ramirez could finish her sentence, Scott cut in.

"Look, Renee, if you leave witness protection and tries to find Jack by yourself, sooner or later the Russians are gonna found out you're looking for him and you're someone important to Jack. That means they can use you as a leverage to get to Jack. I believe you don't want that to happen, do you?" Scott said.

"I know…"Renee said with a barely audible tone, as she closed her eyes as she tried hard to hold back her tears.

Scott noticed that the current topic was making Renee quite uncomfortable so he gave a serious look to Inspector Ramirez telling her to drop the topic. Inspector Ramirez nodded in agreement. Scott then pulled out a pen and a small notebook from his pocket. "Renee, the reason we're here is not because you violated WITSEC rules. The reason we're here is because I need your help on one of the case I'm investigating. It's related to your undercover operation in New York about seven years ago."

Renee's face darkened. That's the case that landed her and Jack in their current respective predicaments. Despite the fact that the case brought them together again 18 months ago, she couldn't help to think if wasn't for that case, she wouldn't have gone back undercover and faced that bastard Vladimir Laitanan again, and then putting Jack in those dangerous situations. If wasn't for that case, she wouldn't have gotten shot and then Jack wouldn't have done any of those crazy stuffs…

"Renee, we know it's difficult. If you're not comfortable talking about it now, we can always come back later…" Inspector Ramirez said, after noticing Renee's somber expression. Scott also nodded understandingly.

Renee sighed. "It's OK. What can I help you guys with?" She knew that Scott and his former boss took a huge risk and managed to save her life in New York. She knew at least she can do was to help him with whatever he's looking for.

"OK. I know it's been a long time since you had been under, but do you remember anything about a guy named Nicholai Kirilenko? You mentioned in your case report that Vladimir Laitanan tried to enter a business partnership with him but that didn't work out. Can you remember any details? I know this is difficult for you. Please take your time…" Scott said.

Renee silently stared at her cup of coffee and tried to recall about her time undercover inside Laitanan's gang. Digging into her deepest and darkest memory that she didn't want to remember, she tried to look for the name "Nicholai Kirilenko"…

**09:08:43**

Vasili Chernov and his men had been following Scott since Scott left FBI's LA field office. They had seen Scott meeting with another woman and getting into her car afterward. After Chernov saw the woman had a concealed side arm he figured that the woman was probably a cop or a federal agent. Chernov's suspicion about Scott meeting another informant grew. Therefore, he and his men continued to follow them all the way to Renee Walker's apartment in Chatsworth. Chernov and his men parked their car near the apartment. On Chernov's netbook, the screen displayed a detailed 3D wireframe map of Renee's apartment building and the red-dot that indicated Scott's position inside the building. After looking at his netbook screen, Chernov was able to determine which windows belong to the apartment Scott was currently in from the outside. He took out his binocular and tried to scout the inside of the apartment out. _Not good._ Chernov thought. Pretty much every window in that apartment had its blind or curtain closed, hence making the sniper coverage for his men impossible if they try to storm the apartment. However, it did somewhat confirm Chernov's suspicion since pulling down all curtains and blinds on a sunny day like this meant that one got something to hide, in this case, informants.

"I can't get a visual inside the apartment, all the curtains are closed. I think he must be meeting with another informant. Sniper coverage is not possible. We will have to hit them when they are separated. I will handle that FBI agent and his friend after they headed to their car. Dimitri, Anton, you two hides in the place adjacent to the informant's apartment. Once I take out that FBI agent and his sidekick, you two storm the apartment and kill whoever was inside." Chernov ordered.

Both men in front seats nodded while screwing on suppressors for their weapons. After they completed their weapons check and concealed their weapons, all three men put on their Bluetooth headsets and got out of their blue sedan. Both Dimitri and Anton headed into the apartment. Chernov then opened the trunk of the sedan to get more weapons.

**09:14:50**

**An Empty Office Building near Hilbert Grand Hotel**

General Rawlins' men had provided Jack Bauer with everything including state of the art firearms and electronics he needed to complete the operation. They dropped Jack off near the Hilbert Grand Hotel and left quickly. General Rawlins had given Jack the schematics of Hilbert Grand Hotel and its surrounding buildings. He also had given Jack where Kirilenko is likely to be inside the Hilbert Grand Hotel. According to General Rawlins' intel, Kirilenko was provided a personal office in the hotel, and the office had a huge clear window. Jack had already looked through all of the schematics and thought the tall building couple blocks down from the hotel was a perfect place to set up a sniper's nest. That tall building was a recently developed office building that hadn't got one simple occupant inside. According to its schematic, on one floor, there was a conference room with a balcony that would allowe a sniper to look into Kirilenko's office directly. _It's just like the time when he tried to take out Suvarov._ Jack thought. As expected, both Secret Service and CTU were providing security for this event. Fortunately, General Rawlins had provided Jack with both Secret Service and CTU deployment grids so evading them was an easy task.

Carrying a huge duffel bag, Jack made his way into the building where he wanted to set up the sniper's nest. Although the building had security alarms and keycard access consoles, Jack easily by-passed those using the tools General Rawlins provided. He kept his USP Compact pistol up and quickly checked each corner as he made his way to the stairs. So far, Secret Service or CTU hadn't show up yet. Jack quickly placed a tiny hidden camera on a wall besides bottom of the stairs so that if either Secret Service or CTU had shown up, he'll know before they got too close to his position. After Jack climbed those stairs, he made his way to the sniper spot he had chosen.

Inside the empty conference room with a giant wooden rectangular conference table and stackable chairs stacked up beside the wall, Jack set down his duffel bag, and then opened the Balcony door. Jack then took out his PDA-phone, a netbook which was linked to the hidden camera he placed, and a FN SCAR-L rifle outfitted with telescopic sight and foregrip bipod from the duffel bag. He then set them on the conference table. The rifle, a FN SCAR-L, was the same type of rifle he had used when he attempted to take out Suvarov. As an experienced operative, Jack knew that the best sniping position was inside a room with an open window or balcony door, instead of rooftop ledges. It hid the sniper and made the muzzle flash impossible to be seen. After Jack grabbed a stackable chair from the chair stack he sat down and readied his FN SCAR-L rifle. Through the scope he had a clear view of Kirilenko's office. Now he had to wait for Kirilenko to show up at his office.

**09:24:17**

**Renee's Apartment Complex, Chatworth**

Dimitri and Anton walked down the hallway in front of Renee's apartment. They stopped in front of an apartment two doors down from Renee's apartment. Both men checked left and right to if it's clear in both directions, then they took out their weapons. While Anton held his silenced MP5k-PDW submachine gun and took cover against the wall beside the door. Dimitri knocked the door with his left hand while holding his suppressed Walter P99 pistol with the other. After three knocks, a young woman in her mid-20's opened the door.

"May I help…" Before the poor woman could finish her sentence, Dimitri quickly shot her in the head. His left hand then quickly grabbed the woman's body and then pulling the body towards him. He did that because that way he could prevent the body from hitting the floor and creating a thudding sound. Tactically, he could also use the woman's body as shield. Dimitri then quickly pointed his pistol to his next target: a man also in his early 20's sitting at the dining table in the apartment. Before the man could even realize what was going on, Dimitri double-tapped the man in his chest with two quick and consecutive shots. All of that happened in a span of five seconds. Anton raised his silenced MP5k-PDW submachine gun and then stormed into the apartment. He began clearing the room while Dimitri dragged the poor woman's body inside and closed the door. After making sure the apartment was clear Dimitri and Anton checked their weapons again. They were ordered to hide here until the FBI agent and his companion left the target apartment, then they will hit the target apartment.

**09:27:12**

"When I was under, I only heard of the name Nicholai Kirilenko once through Laitanan." The mere mention of the name 'Vladimir Laitanan' made Renee wanted to throw up. Even though he's been dead for 18 months, the memory of Vladimir Laitanan still haunted her.

"Basically, one day when Vladimir and I were dining in a restaurant, an Austrian man approached us. The Austrian told Vladimir that he represented a client who has some unique merchandise, and he wanted Vladimir to introduce him to some of his friend in the arms dealing business. He didn't specify the so-called 'unique merchandise' at the time and always kept things very cryptic, but Austrian gave Vladimir $5 millions and told him he will get more after he made the introductions. I suspected that unnamed client behind that Austrian middle man might be part of the 'Red Square', so I persuaded Vladimir to find out who was the Austrian's unnamed benefactor by appealing to his greed. I told him that by cutting out the middle-man and doing the business directly with that Austrian's client, he could make a lot more money. Like a greedy bastard he was, Vladimir agreed and started calling every connection he can think of to find out who the Austrian's client was. Couple days later he told me that the Austrian's client was a corrupt GRU Colonel named Nicholai Kirilenko. He also told me that he heard rumors saying that Kirilenko controlled an old Soviet chemical weapon research facility in Kazakhstan, which had been used to develop a VX nerve gas variant nicknamed 'Silent Night'. He figured this VX nerve gas variant might be the 'unique merchandise' the Austrian was talking about. However, the following day Vladimir received a call and that call scared the hell out of him. He then came to me and started beating me…" Renee said. Her face became more somber as she remembered the abusive relationship Laitanan had with her cover, Renee Zadan.

"You want to take a break?" Inspector Ramirez asked Renee after noticed the how painful Renee looked.

"No, I'm fine..." Renee continued. "He told me the Austrian was killed...He was dismembered into pieces while he was still alive…" Renee said. She startled and looked scared for a second, and then she continued. "Vladimir then told me that there was a contract on his head because simply because he found out the Austrian's client was Nicholai Kirilenko, and Kirilenko preferred to remain completely anonymous in business deals. Vladimir blamed me for putting him in this position. After he finished with me he started calling every favor he can think of to avoid getting killed…you can already guess how that turned out." Renee sighed. The fact that Vladimir was still alive until 18 months ago proved that he managed to call or paid the right people. _Fortunately that bastard's luck ran out 18 months ago. _Renee thought in the back of her head.

"Why didn't you mention all of those in your report?" Scott asked curiously.

"I couldn't verify what Vladimir Laitanan said about the chemical weapon facility in Kazakhstan and the so-called VX nerve gas variant. Vladimir later told me that he heard the rumor was from his distant third cousin's brother-in-law in St. Petersburg or something like that and it was just a rumor. Besides, the FBI didn't pick up any chatter on the so-called 'Silent Night' or the facility, so at the time, I'm not sure whether or not the facility or the VX nerve gas variant really exists... Plus, it was not the first time those mobsters talked big game, making up stuffs that doesn't exist just to make themselves feeling like big shots among their friends. The FBI also couldn't any information about the Austrian middle man either. We couldn't find a record of him, nor his body... It's like the Austrian simply disappeared from the face of the Earth. However, there was one thing I'm sure of: Nicholai Kirilenko. He's definitely a real. Otherwise, he wouldn't have put a contract on Vladimir after he found out about him…"

Suddenly, something clicked on Scott's mind. "Wait, did you say the nerve gas was a VX variant called 'Silent Night'?"

"Yes. Why is that important?" Renee asked.

_Oh my God…That might be the possible link!_ Scott thought. "I got the name Nicholai Kirilenko from one of my old informant in New York. He claimed that it was Kirilenko who orchestrated the nerve gas attack in Moscow three weeks ago, not IRK radicals. He specifically mentioned that the nerve gas used in the attack was nicknamed as 'Silent Night', and that information wasn't mentioned in any of the media circuit around the world...So I guess what you heard from Vladimir might not be a rumor after all...You also said Kirilenko controls a facility which developed those things outside of Russian. That could be the link between him and that terrorist attack in Moscow. Either he was helping IRK radicals or he was behind it…Anyway this is big, Renee…If there is evidence that can tie him to the attack, not only we get to put one bad guy away, we might also averted a possible war in the between Russia and Kamistan…Call it a hunch, but from what you said, I think Kirilenko might even be involved with that 'Red Square' syndicate, which could mean that he might also be involved in the assassination of President Omar Hassan and the radiological bomb attack 18 months ago…If there exists proofs that he's also involved in those, Justice or the UN might be able to re-initiate their investigations against the Russians government on those allegations!" Scott said. While clearly getting ahead of himself, Scott couldn't hide his excitement because if all goes well, this could be the biggest case of his life.

"Well, let me help you! If we can prove all of those you said, we can hold the Russians accountable for all of tragedies happened that day and the tragedy that happened three weeks ago. Maybe if we did that, maybe we could get Jack to stop running before he gets himself killed!" Upon thinking about the possibility of both exposing the Russian conspiracy and getting Jack back safely, Renee was eager to help. Renee though maybe by doing so, she could also get her life back as well.

"No! Absolutely not! Renee, this is way too dangerous. Besides, you are the key witness now in the case and the upcoming investigations, which means I cannot put you in harm's way. We might need to relocate you again." Scott said.

Inspector Ramirez nodded upon hearing what Scott had said. "I'll contact my boss at the US Marshals Service and tell them to authorize Renee's relocation."

"What?" Renee was surprised by Scott's statement. "Look, Agent Riley, stopping treating me like an invalid! I know what the stakes are. I can help you with your investigation…" Renee protested strongly.

"Renee, you're not a federal agent anymore. As I said before, you're a witness and you have to stay put. So please, get ready because the US Marshals gonna be here shortly. I gotta go back to the FBI. I will see you again shortly after the US Marshals arrived." Scott said firmly as he walked towards the door. Inspector Ramirez also told Renee to stay put for the moment and then followed Scott out of the door.

Frustrated, Renee rolled her eyes and then sighed. At the moment she desperately wanted to help Jack and Scott just came up with a way to do so, but yet she was not allowed to do anything to help. Renee was tired of feeling useless.

**09:39:34**

**Hilbert Grand Hotel**

After leaving the meeting with the secretary of the state, Kevin Ross, Sayid Al-Fulani decided to head to his office to discuss further actions with President Dalia Hassan via Teleconference. Just as he walked down the hall, Nicholai Kirilenko and his aides approached him.

"Mr. Al-Fulani, it's an honor to finally talk to you. I'm Nicholai Kirilenko, Russian delegation's energy adviser. I wanted to talk to you about the oil and gas pipelines in the Caspian Sea region and how we can prevent them from being damaged in the event of war."

"Mr. Kirilenko, with all due respect, you and I have nothing to talk about. Your people are currently planning to invade my country…"

"Mr. Al-Fulani, I'm not the President of Russian Federation, nor am I one of the ministers or generals. Therefore, I do not make those decisions. However, in the event of a war, there will be a possibility that the oil and gas pipelines in that region become damaged, and the following consequences will be serious. For instance, some Eastern European countries are very dependent on those gas pipelines to keep their people warm in the winter. Also, I believe some of Kamistan's neighbors will be affected in terms of your energy production to them. Now, the reason I want to talk to you is that I hope we can come up a way, or possibly, an agreement, to minimize those damages if there's a war. How about we talk about this in my office? I will show you some projections about worst case scenarios" Kirilenko said sincerely.

Al-Fulani hesitated for a moment. _This could mean that the Russians don't really want a war, as they are worrying about their pipelines. Maybe they are just bluffing by moving their forces. As secretary Ross said, if Russians wanted to invade they would just do so without any warnings. This could be an opportunity for solving this crisis privately._ Al-Fulani thought.

"OK, let's talk in your office". Al-Fulani said.

Both men and their respective aides headed to Kirilenko's office.

**09:43:56**

**Chatsworth**

Renee reluctantly headed to her bedroom to pack up her stuffs. She peeked through the curtains of her bedroom window and looked over Scott and Inspector Ramirez as they walked towards their car. Renee sighed. She really wished that she could go with them, and help them exposed the Russian conspiracy.

As Ramirez got into the driver's seat of her car, Scott got into the passenger seat. At the same time, he dialed his phone to call his partner, Special Agent Sarah Ferris, to inform her about his discovery. Suddenly, they heard a high pitched shrieking sound and the sound was getting louder and louder by milliseconds. Before Scott realized what was going on, the car exploded into a giant ball of flame.

As Renee watched the car exploded from the window of her bedroom, she grasped in horror and froze for a second. As the same time, her survival instinct kicked in and instructed her to hit the deck. Renee did so and then she crawled on her belly to the nightstand beside her bed. As soon as she reached the nightstand she opened the drawer and took out her already loaded Glock 19 pistol in a holster and a few ammo magazines.

At the same time, Chernov, standing on the rooftop of a nearby building, set down his RPG-7D launcher which still had smoke coming out of its end due to rocket exhaust. RPG-7D is the paratrooper model of the infamous rocket propelled grenade launcher RPG-7, which can be broken into parts for easier carrying. Chernov was very familiar with the weapon because before he got into the GRU, he served in VDV, Russian Airborne troops. He began to dissemble the launcher.

"Dimitri, Anton, go!" Chernov gave the order to his men through his Bluetooth headset.

As soon as the order was given, Dimitri and Anton busted out of the apartment two doors down from Renee's apartment and quickly moved to Renee's door. As Dimitri raised his silenced Walther P99 pistol to cover Renee's door, Anton kicked the door open. Dimitri then entered Renee's apartment first. His eyes scanned from left and right. So far the living room was clear. Anton followed Dimitri into the apartment and raised his suppressed MP5k-PDW submachine gun. Dimitri, still had his gun raised, moved towards Renee's bedroom. Anton covered Dimitri by pointing his submachine gun at the bedroom's door. As Dimitri stepped into Renee's bedroom, he caught a glimpse of a female figure on his right, standing beside a bedroom dresser and pointing a weapon at him. Before Dimitri could swing his upper body and his gun to his right, Renee put a round into Dimitri's head. The force of the bullet's impact knocked Dimitri's body backward. Dimitri's body hit the already opened bedroom door and slowly slid down against it, leaving a blood trail on the door.

Renee then ducked behind the bedroom dresser and used it as additional layer of cover since the bedroom dresser was already placed against the bedroom wall. She then moved along the dresser to the edge of the door to get a better view.

As soon as Anton saw Dimitri went down, he quickly opened fire at the wall. The hail of bullets from his submachine gun ripped through the bedroom wall. , and tiny wooden debris created by the submachine gun fire rained down on Renee. Renee, at the time, stayed low and kept telling herself to stay calm and remember her FBI trainings. Still holding her pistol, she peeked out of the door frame and fired at Anton's direction. Anton, noticed Renee peeking out from the door frame, quickly ducked down and sought cover behind one of Renee's couches as Renee's bullet whizzing pass by. Under fire and hiding behind the cover, Anton then performed a tactical reload: He quickly replaced his partially spent magazine with a fresh one. Anton then held his MP5k-PDW submachine gun over Renee's couch and then blind fired his weapon at the bedroom door.

As soon as Renee saw Anton's submachine gun over her couch she stopped firing at Anton's direction and quickly retreats to her cover behind the dresser against the wall as bullets flying past her. The hail of gunfire kicked a lot of smoke and tiny debris as bullets hit the floor besides Renee. Renee winced as the tiny debris flew towards her. As soon as Anton emptied his clip, he ditched his submachine gun and quickly drew his Berretta 92 pistol. He popped out his cover, and aimed at the door. All of that in one quick swooping motion so that when his target pops out from the cover, he will have his weapon aiming directly at his target already. However, just as Anton pop out from his cover, Pete Lawson, Renee's neighbor living across the hall, wondered into Renee's apartment.

"Ms. O'Connor, are you…" Before Pete can finish his sentence, Anton turned around and shot him in the chest two times. At the same moment, Renee pop out from her cover and shot a distracted Anton in his center mass two times. As Anton fell down, Renee quickly stood up and moved to Anton's body while her gun still pointed at Anton. She kicked Anton's pistol way and then in her horror, she saw her neighbor, Pete lying at her doorway and blood gushing out from his chest wound.

"Oh my God…Mr. Lawson!" Renee grasped in horror as she kneeled down to tend Pete's wound. "Just hang on! Help is coming…" Renee figured since her weapon is unsuppressed, the sounds of her gun from the firefight with those goons must had made the neighbors call the police. Unfortunately, after coughing out his blood a few times, Pete Lawson stopped breathing and body became motionless. Renee froze for a second. As hard as she tried to hold back her tears, a single tear rolled down her cheek, Renee thought about all of innocent people who had died because they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The memory of Marika Donoso and her sister's words resurfaced from her deepest part of her memories. At this moment, all she wanted to do was to scream at this unfair world, but her throat closed up from the angst and sorrow.

Suddenly, with full determination, Renee stood up and rushed to her closet in her bedroom. She then took out a messenger bag from a hidden compartment in her closet. The messenger bag contained essentials such as cash, documents, another Glock 19 pistol, and extra ammo magazines. It was Renee's escape bag in case something goes wrong, like her current situation. Right now, Renee was determined to get to the bottom of this conspiracy before more innocent people get killed, and save Jack Bauer from himself as well by exposing the conspiracy…

At the same time, Chernov, with his duffel bag over his shoulder, pressed his Bluetooth headset to get a status report from Dimitri and Anton while walking towards his sedan.

"Dimitri, Anton, status report." No one answered.

"Dimitri, Anton, status report!" Chernov barked, but still no one reported back.

Chernov cursed in Russian as he opened the trunk of the blue sedan, placed his coat and his duffel bag inside the trunk, and then took out a bulletproof vest, a tactical chest rig filled with extra ammo clips in its many pockets, and an AMD-65 assault rifle outfitted with Picatinny rails and red-dot optic sight. He thought the larger caliber round from this assault rifle at close range should provide enough stopping power to handle whoever was or were inside that apartment. Chernov quickly slid on his bulletproof vest before putting on his tactical chest rig. He then produced a balaclava from his chest rig and wore it on his head to conceal his identity. He cocked his already loaded assault rifle, and then quickly ran towards Renee's apartment complex hoping he can intercept whoever killed his men.

**09:50:39**

**An Empty Office Building near Hilbert Grand Hotel**

Inside the empty conference room of the building, Jack continued looking down his rifle scope at the window of Kirilenko's office. Suddenly, the office door opened and Nicholai Kirilenko walked in, followed by a Middle Eastern man. _Must be part of the IRK delegation._ Jack thought. As Kirilenko poured a glass of water on a table and handed it to the Middle Eastern man, Jack had the crosshair inside his scope aiming directly at Kirilenko's head. _It's now or never._ Jack thought. However, just as he was about to pull the trigger, a thought occurred to him. _Is this what Renee would want if she's still alive? Is this what she would want him to do?_ He asked himself. It was Renee's life he was avenging, not his. _Chloe also asked me the same question last time I saw her._ Jack thought. At the moment, as the window of the opportunity grew smaller and smaller, Jack's resolve for revenge teetered.

Suddenly, what Jack saw through his scope shocked him. A round punctured through the window of Kirilenko's office and hit the Middle-Eastern man's head. This was followed quickly by another one which almost hit Kirilenko. As Kirilenko ducked down and quickly sought cover behind his desk, additional shots were fired and Kirilenko's office was getting shot up. The hail of gunfire died down quickly as the Secret Service, along with IRK and Russian security details, rushed into Kirilenko's office. One of security details quickly pulled down the blinds. As those blinds being pulled down, through his scope, Jack quickly observed the bullet holes inside Kirilenko's office_. Those trajectory angles were steep. Those shots definite came from at least two floors above._ He thought. He quickly picked up his PDA-phone and rushed to the second floor, while holding his FN-SCAR-L rifle.

Two floors above Jack's position, Viktor Lovonski quickly unscrewed the long black suppressor, retracted the stock of his Mk. 14 Mod 0 EBR (Enhanced Battle Rifle), and put both the suppressed and rifle into a black rifle bag. His boss had ordered him to hold on to the rifle because it was needed later. Lovonski also used the conference room on two floors above Jack's position for the same reason: to hide his position and to conceal the muzzle flash from the rifle. The former GRU operative was already dressed in the same load-out and outfits as CTU TAC team so he would have no problem slipping through the perimeter if CTU and Secret Service determined his position. Just as he exited the conference room on that floor, suddenly, he noticed that someone was coming. Years of training and warfare had made him extremely aware of his surroundings. He quickly went into the room adjacent to the conference room. Fortunately for him, there were also a bunch of stackable chairs stacked up in that room. He climbed onto the chair stack and opened up the office sub ceiling, then he climbed into the sub ceiling quickly. Once he was inside, he closed the sub ceiling wall. He hoped that he would be able to make his way to a bathroom or closet in order to evade the unknown intruder.

Once he was on the floor two floors above his original sniping position, Jack quickly cleared the floor room by room until he reached the conference room on this floor. He noticed the spent cartridge casings on both the conference table and the floor. _This must be the sniper's position._ Jack thought. Still holding his rifle, he went out to the balcony to check to see if the sniper had rappelled down from there. He looked down from the balcony and found nothing. Just as he was about to headed back, he noticed that there was a blinking light in the sky, the one just like he saw when he was about to be executed by Charles Logan's goons 18 months ago. _Damn it!_ Jack cursed silently.

**09:58:02**

**Secret Service Command Post, Hilbert Grand Hotel**

Unlike CTU, which had mobile field command post trailers, Secret Service had to set up their command post inside the Hilbert Grand Hotel. Agent Jason Simmons, the Secret Service agent in charge of the protective details for this high level talk, had ordered his men to coordinate with their IRK and Russian counterparts to evacuate those delegate from the hotel as soon as he heard that IRK's foreign minister, Sayid Al-Fulani, had been assassinated. The security details had to escort those delegates to the underground parking where their motorcades were waiting. Those motorcades were ordered to evacuate those delegates to their respective Consulates and in secretary of the state's case, Vandenberg Air Force Base. The preliminary report had indicated that the assassin was targeting IRK delegates so agent Simmons ordered the security details escorting IRK delegates to take the secondary routes to avoid potential dangers. The evacuation routes for Russian delegates and secretary of the state remained unchanged. Just as agent Simmons worked intensely to coordinate the evacuation, another Secret Service agent notified him that the CTU drone had located the shooter and CTU were sending the video feed from the drone to them. The young agent typed a series of command inputs on a keyboard and one of the 60 inch LCD TV in the command center displayed the low altitude aerial view of the area surrounding Hilbert Grand Hotel.

"From the video feed, CTU was also able to ID the shooter. They already put an APB out a second ago." The younger agent said as he continued to type.

The display on the big screen TV zoomed in on a figure holding a rifle and standing on one of the balcony in an office building nearby. As soon as the picture of that figure was enlarged facial recognition algorithms kicked in automatically. Within five seconds Jack Bauer's picture and information popped up in a separate window.

"Oh my God…that's Jack Bauer!" Agent Simmons said, and then he quickly grabbed one of the talkies and set it to broadcast to both CTU and Secret Service personnel. "This is Simmons. The shooter is Jack Bauer. I repeat. The shooter is the international fugitive Jack Bauer. The suspect is considered armed and extremely dangerous. All units proceed with extreme caution. I repeat. All units proceed with extreme caution!"

**09:59:57...09:59:58...09:59:59...10:00:00**

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**:O ! Again, Hope you guys enjoy the story! :) Please Read and Review**


	4. 10:00AM 11:00AM

_**Author's Note:**_

_Again, thank you for reading my story and thank you for the reviews. Those reviews truly made my day so please keep them coming :) _

_I also edited the earlier chapters. Nothing major really. I just correct some small mistakes, and separated bigger paragraphs into smaller ones to make them easy to read (Thanks for the suggestion, molly1006). As for the grammar error and small mistakes, all I can say is that I'm only human. Yeah, I know it's sounded like some lame excuse, but I often did my writing and editing at the wee hours of the night so there are bound to be some mistakes. I will try to minimize those mistakes as humanly possible. I hope those mistakes didn't ruin anyone's reading experience. *cross my fingers*_

_Again, I must apologize for slower update for future chapters. I'm quite busy recently and I still need to plan out some of story elements in later chapters. (OK, I'll admit I slacked off sometimes LOL). I hope the planning will pay off later on. As for the reunion between Jack and Renee: __**All I can say is that they will meet.**__ That's all I gonna say :) _

_Anyway enough with my rambling let's roll the tape…_

_**Additional Research Notes:**_

_**Spetsnaz:**__ Russian special purpose regiments. The term is often used to refer Russian Special Forces._

_**Disclaimer: I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P**_

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**Previously on 24**

FBI Special Agent Scott Riley and US Marshal Elena Ramirez went to Renee Walker's apartment to ask her about Nicholai Kirilenko. However, Kirilenko's men followed Agent Riley and killed both Agent Riley and Marshal Ramirez. Renee managed to kill two of them in a firefight. Meanwhile, Jack attempted to assassinate Kirilenko while Kirilenko was meeting with IRK Foreign Minister. Another assassin killed the IRK Foreign Minister and CTU thought it was Jack Bauer who did it.

**The following takes place between 10:00AM and 11:00AM**

**10:05:54**

**Renee's Apartment, Chatsworth**

After Renee shouldered her messenger bag and reloaded her Glock 19 pistol, she quickly exited her apartment. Still had her gun risen, she moved quickly and carefully to the stairwell on the very left of her apartment complex. While on her way to the stairwell, she saw the horrible sight two doors down from her apartment: a female dead body lying near the door and a male dead body sitting on a dining chair motionlessly. _Oh God._ She thought. Although Renee didn't know these people well, she was still sickened by the sight. Even after spending many years in FBI she still hasn't used to the idea of innocent people getting murdered by bad guys simply because it was more convenient for them to do so. She also felt a strong guilt building up inside her. If it wasn't for her, this poor couple would still be alive. They were probably gonna go on with their normal lives like every morning. However, she knew that she must suppress her guilt at the moment in order to survive this crisis. As she reached the stairwell, Renee flew down the steps as fast as she could and hoped that she could reach her car without any trouble.

As he headed to Renee's apartment complex, Vasili Chernov thought about his target. Since the target took out two of his men, both were highly trained former Spetsnaz GRU, the target must have at least some sort of trainings. Therefore, in order to anticipate the target's next move, Chernov would have to think like the target.

_What would he do if he was in the target's situation? _He thought.

The first logical step for the target was probably trying to escape from the apartment complex. However, was the target gonna exit the apartment through the front lobby or through a car? The car was definitely a more attractive option since it provided more protection, and it also allows a fast getaway. That's what he would do in the target's situation. Therefore, Chernov headed to the emergency exit of the apartment. Upon reaching the door, he took out a small breaching charge from one of his many pouches and placed onto the lock portion of the emergency exit door. Chernov then took cover around the corner of the apartment complex. He pressed the remote detonator switch and then a small explosion knocked the emergency exit door open. Once he got the door open he headed down to the underground parking. After he reached the underground parking, Chernov raised his assault rifle and checked his corners. Once those corners were clearly, he moved forward slowly and cautiously.

At the time, the parking lot was only half full. Chernov decided to start his sweep from the right most driving lane. Still had his weapon risen, he moved slowly along side of parked cars. With his eyes aligned with the sight of his rifle, Chernov swept his corners continuously to check to see if there was anything suspicious. Parking lot was often a tactical nightmare for professional soldiers like Chernov because the cars provided concealment and cover, hence making it harder to spot enemies. Fortunately for Chernov, the lot was half full. Almost every car was separated by at least one empty parking space.

At the same time, Renee made her way to the underground parking. Upon exiting the door, she quickly checked her left and right side before heading straight to her car. Once she was sure her left and right side were clear as she started to move forward cautiously. Renee could simply make a quick dash for her car, but her FBI training told her to make sure the area was clear first. After Renee moved several steps forward, she saw a gunman wearing balaclava on her far left side. The gunman was wielding an assault rifle and looked like he got Kevlar too. From the looks of it, that gunman was conducting sweeps with his weapon. Fortunately, with all of the cars in the underground parking obstructing his line of sight, he didn't seem to notice her at that moment.

_Crap._ Renee thought.

She quickly ducked and tried to stay low. He moved behind the side of the first car in front of her and used the car as cover. Right now the situation wasn't looking good for Renee. Her car was parked in the parking space beside the same driving lane the gunman was currently sweeping. If she made a run for her car the gunman could easily cut her down with his assault rifle. However, since the gunman didn't notice her, Renee quickly came up a plan: She could use cars as cover to conceal her movement, circle around the gunman, and then flank him from the side or the behind.

Still staying low, she moved to her right and turned around the corner of the car she was using for cover. There were two rows of parking space between her and the driving lane which the gunman was currently sweeping. Holding her Glock 19 pistol tightly and staying low, Renee quickly dashed for the second parked car in front of her. The second car was parked two parking spaces down. Once she arrived in front of the second parked car, she used it as temporary cover. She held her breath as the gunman scanned his left side. Fortunately, the gunman didn't seem to notice her. Renee then let out her breath quietly. While behind the cover, she waited for the right moment to dash to the third parked car. If she succeeded without being detected, the gunman would be on her left side with two parked cars in between, and she could easily flank him from either his side or his behind.

As Chernov moved slowly and cautiously to sweep the driving lane and its surrounding area, he noticed movements behind the cars on his left. Through car windows, He caught a glimpse of a figure behind those parked cars on his front left side. Without hesitation, Chernov aimed his assault rifle at the direction of that suspicious glimpse of a figure and he pulled the trigger. His assault rifle let out giant muzzle flashes and hails of bullets rained down at that direction within a very short amount of time.

Just as Renee was gonna take a peek from her cover, the gunman seemed to notice her and fired at her direction. Renee quickly retreated behind her cover as bullets whizzing pass over her head. The large caliber round from the gunman's assault rifle ripped the glasses of those car windows apart and debris from those shattered car windows rained down at Renee. The impacts of bullets on the metal surface of cars created distinct clunk sounds and sparks. Renee winced as hail of bullets continued raining down at her direction. She was pinned down.

"Damn it." She muttered.

Renee now had to wait until the gunman reloads. She could pop out of her cover and exchange fire with the gunman, but that would be a waste of bullets since the gunman would take cover behind the closest car. She had to use this short interval to switch her cover, and possibly, try to flank him from the side in process.

As soon as Chernov emptied his magazine, he quickly took out another magazine from one of his tactical pouches with his left hand. With his weapon still trained at his front, he used the AK magazine to engage his AMD-65's magazine release, sweep the spent magazine out of the mag well, and then rocked the fresh magazine into his rifle. Right after s he finished changing the magazine, Chernov's left hand came underneath his weapon and quickly charged its charging handle on the weapon's right side. Within five seconds, Chernov finished reloading his rifle and he was ready to continue engaging his target.

At the same time, Renee was sure the gunman was reloading, but the second she popped out of her bullet-ridden cover another hail of bullets whizzed right pass her. She then quickly retreated behind her cover again and winced.

_Geez. Does this guy ever need to reload?_ Renee thought.

Just as Renee desperately tried to think of ways to escape this predicament, a silver sedan entered the underground parking and turning into the driving lane beside Renee. The driver saw the gun battle in front and he quickly stopped the car and bailed from the passenger side.

Chernov noticed the car but he couldn't care less. He stopped firing and then performed the same speed reload maneuver he did moments ago. Within five seconds, a fresh magazine was inserted and his weapon was charged again. However, after reloading his rifle, Chernov did not fire. He simply aimed his weapon at the direction of his target and waited for the target to pop her head out. He knew the target was pinned down at that location, so it was easy to predict where the target was gonna pop out.

With her back against the front of the car, Renee was definitely in a real pickle. However, an idea suddenly came to her. She took out a partially spent ammo magazine for her Glock 19 pistol from her pocket, and then she tossed it to her left.

Chernov heard a thud sound from his front left direction. It sounded like a pistol ammo magazine hitting the ground. _Damn it the target must had moved to the cover on my left._ Chernov thought. He swung his rifle to his left and fired at the new possible location of his target.

That was her opening. Renee quickly noticed that and popped out of her cover and fired her Glock 19 pistol at the gunman. Three rounds hit the gunman straight in the chest and knocked him down on the ground. Without missing a beat, Renee than quickly move to the empty sedan. Once she was inside the driver's seat, she found out that the key was still in the ignition. She started driving and turning backward around the corner in full speed. She hoped that she could back out of the underground parking before the gunman got up.

Despite having the Kevlar on, the impacts from the bullets hitting his chest still knocked Chernov down. Using his rifle as support, Chernov slowly got up. As he was getting up and moving to cover, he saw the target moving toward the recently unoccupied car. The target was dark auburn haired woman wearing plaid shirt and jeans. As he raised his assault rifle and tried to fire at his target, the target was already inside the car and the car was already backing out of the underground parking from the ramp. Chernov let out a string of profanities in Russian. He then heard the distant sirens. He knew he had to get out of the underground parking and report to Kirilenko about this new development.

_Colonel Kirilenko will have my head for this. _Chernov thought darkly.

As Renee backed out of the underground parking, she quickly performed a two point turn and then drove straight in full speed. Once the adrenaline wore off she began to feel the pain, the fear and the guilt as those emotions resurfaced. Renee's hands began to shake from those emotions. Her training told her that she had to surpass those emotions for now, but at this moment, she didn't believe in that. Painful memories came flooding back.

_Too many people got hurt or died because of me…and Jack is on the run also because of me…_ Renee thought darkly. Her face became more and more somber and haunted as the time passed.

**10:20:12**

**An Empty Office Building near Hilbert Grand Hotel**

After discovering he was being monitored by a CTU drone, Jack quickly made his way to his sniper's nest two floors down. He checked his netbook which was connected to the small camera he placed on the on a wall besides bottom of the stairwell earlier. The netbook screen showed that CTU TAC team was already here and ready to head upstairs. It was just like the time Jack tried to assassinate Suvarov, except Chloe wasn't here to bail him out of the incoming trouble this time around. As CTU TAC team and field agents began clearing the building floor by floor, Jack knew he had to escape from the building fast. He put all of his stuff into the duffel bag and took out a rappelling rope and rappel harness. Jack quickly put on the rappel harness and anchored the rappelling rope to the rail of the balcony in front of the conference room. After Jack attached another end of the rope to the rappel harness, he shouldered his duffel bag and began to rappel down from the building at a very fast pace.

Several floors down, one of CTU field agent was clearing the floor. He noticed that there's a rappelling rope outside of the conference room balcony of that floor. He quickly moved to the balcony and noticed that Jack Bauer was rappelling down. Jack looked up and saw the field agent. They exchanged looks briefly.

_Damn it._ Jack thought. He then continued to rappel down the building.

"This is Agent Peterson. All units, be advised. Suspect is rappelling down. I repeat. Suspect is rappelling down. Requesting support on the south east side of the building…" The field agent radioed his colleagues and CTU field command center.

Jack reached the ground and ran quickly away from the office building he just rappelled down. He made his way into the empty storefront adjacent to that empty office building just as CTU TAC team showed up at the location where he rappelled down. However, Agent Peterson saw the whole sequence from the balcony.

"All units, be advised. Suspect just ran into the adjacent building three clicks from my location. Requesting additional backups to set up a perimeter and sweep the area!" Agent Peterson barked on his radio.

Inside the vacant store, Jack began to strategize his next move. Basically, when a well trained team such as CTU's TAC team advances on one's position, sneaking away was very difficult, especially if they had already set up a perimeter. Therefore, Jack had to give them something to worry about. He took out a brick of C4 which already had detonator attached. He then placed that bricks of C4 on the floor and then went into backroom to hide.

CTU TAC team arrived at the building where Jack just went into the backroom of the vacant store. As TAC team entered the completely empty store and fanned out to cover every inch of the floor, a giant explosion suddenly appeared several feet in front of them, and the shockwave from the explosion knocked a couple of field agents down. Upon seeing the explosion, all of the TAC team members ducked and then began to pull back.

"All units pull back! Suspect might have boogie trapped the building. Requesting EDU (Explosive Disposal Unit) support!" One of the TAC team members shouted to his radio as he back out of the store.

"Roger that. EDU is on the way. Perimeter Team will move farther away from the building just in case." The radio answered.

Jack actually timed the explosion correctly so no CTU TAC team members were caught within the blast radius. Now with CTU TAC team becoming more occupied with clearing any potential explosives rather than holding their positions, Jack quickly existed the empty office building from one of the emergency exit which led to a back alley. He raised his USP compact pistol and scanned his corners. So far he hasn't spotted any CTU field agents or TAC team members. He holstered his pistol and then exited the back alley to the street. Jack put on his aviator sunglass and blended into the public.

**10:32:28**

Disguise as one of the CTU TAC team members, Viktor Lovonski easily walked out of the front door of the empty office building without any problem. The scene was chaotic at the best. CTU and Secret Service were moving around the scene and constantly radioing their respective command centers. The LAPD and fire department arrived at the scene as well. They were also busy containing the scene and trying to claim jurisdiction. It seemed those law enforcement types were more interested what happened in adjacent storefront. Lovonski actually saw there was smoke coming out of the storefront. _Fools._ He thought as he continued to walk away from the scene. The law enforcements were too busy dealing with the situation to notice him. After walking into a back alley couple blocks down, Lovonski quickly discarded his SWAT helmet, balaclava, tactical vest with the letters "CTU", and pistol holsters. He then took out a duffel bag which he had hid behind a dumpster just two hours ago. Inside the bag were civilian clothes, couple of burner phones, and additional weapons. He quickly changed into civilian clothes. He then called Kirilenko to report his status using a burner phone.

"I've successfully exhilarated from the building. CTU and Secret Service were still searching the area like clueless idiots. I'm on my way to the Bellows' house to plant the rifle." Lovonski said. James Bellows was the brother of one of police officers who lost his life 18 months ago when he and his colleague tried to prevent IRK radicals from kidnapping President Omar Hassan's daughter, Kayla Hassan in New York. Just so happened, James Bellows was a former Marine Scout Sniper which made him a perfect candidate for this frame job Lovonski was talking about.

"Change of plan. There's no need to frame Bellows now. Someone already took the credit. Jack Bauer was spotted by CTU drone in the same building and they think he was the sniper." Kirilenko said over the phone.

"Should we eliminate this Jack Bauer just in case?" Lovonski answered while trying not to sound surprised by this new development.

"No. Every American law enforcement agencies will handle him for us. If we make a move on him they will start to suspect us. Proceed to the rendezvous point and wait for further instructions." Kirilenko said, and then he hanged up.

Sitting inside the limousine which was en-route to the Russian Consulate in LA, Kirilenko thought today lady luck was on his side. His original plan was to frame James Bellows for the assassination of IRK foreign minister Sayid Al-Fulani. Kirilenko speculated that after Al-Fulani was assassinated on American soil by an American, the fragile relationship between US and Kamistan would worsen. As a result, Russian forces could march into IRK territories without having to worry about US involvement in this matter. Kirilenko had planned this so that there was plausible deniability for his involvement. James Bellows was perfect for a fall guy simply because he brother was killed by IRK radicals, which gave him a plausible motive to assassinate IRK officials. He also ordered his man to shoot up his office in order to make it look like the assassin was trying to kill him, too. The purpose of this move was to divert suspicion from him and Russian government. One thing Kirilenko didn't planned on was Jack Bauer showing up at the same building he placed his assassin in. However, just as luck has it, Jack Bauer became the fall guy. That saved him a lot of troubles.

_First he took out that imbecile Novakovich for me, and now he becomes the fall guy for my plan, which saved me a lot of troubles. Maybe I should offer him a shot of Vodka someday, if he lives that long._ Kirilenko mused.

**10:40:06**

**Motorcade en-route to Vandenberg Air force Base**

Secretary of the State Kevin Ross was on the phone with President Hayworth who was in the Oval Office at the moment. Ross had briefed the President about the situation. Regardless to say, the President was furious.

"How the hell does this happen? Bauer was an international fugitive. How the hell did he show up in LA all of the sudden? That bastard just wrecked a diplomatic negotiation again! I want the situation handled!" President Hayworth barked.

"Sir, if I may, this could provide a unique diplomatic opportunity. Ever since Bauer murdered the Russian foreign minister Mikhail Novakovich and his failed attempt on President Suvarov 18 months ago, the Russians had been literally looking under every rock just to find him. Therefore, I was thinking, what if we use Bauer as a bargaining chip? If we captured Bauer alive we can traded him to the Russians under the condition that they de-escalated their aggression against IRK. Hell, if the Russians really wanted him we can even get them to withdraw their forces. The Russians want his head for the murder of their foreign minister and attempted Presidential assassination. From I heard around the diplomatic circle, they want his head bad. Plus, Jack Bauer is a wanted criminal, nobody is gonna miss him. Sir, I think this might be our only card to play in order to de-escalate the Kamistan situation, since IRK delegates won't talk to us anymore after their foreign minister got assassinated by Bauer. We have to get the Russians to back down by giving them something other than President Dalia Hassan's resignation. At the moment, that something is Jack Bauer and giving him to the Russians won't cost us a thing." Ross said. He silently patted himself on the back for coming up with this brilliant idea.

President Hayworth pondered for a moment. _Capturing Jack Bauer and giving him to the Russians might improve the already deteriorating relationships between us and the Russians. Not only that, we might even be able to smooth things up with IRK since Bauer did take out their foreign minister. Plus, capturing an international fugitive might help my image with the upcoming election. It's like killing many birds with one stone._ President Hayworth thought.

"Alright, Kevin, I will order every US law enforcement agency to make capturing Jack Bauer alive their top priority. Meanwhile, I want you to talk to the Russians and tell them that we got something else they want." President Hayworth said. He hoped everything works out in his favor.

"Yes, Mr. President." Ross grinned. If he pulled this off his political career and image will improve further. He could picture him and President Hayworth going down in history as men who averted a possible war in the region.

**10:45:41**

**FBI LA Field Office**

After LA Field Office's Special Agent in Charge Stan Hoffman got off the phone with CTU and the White House, he called for everyone's attention in the LA Field Office. He told them that the foreign minister of IRK had just been assassinated by international fugitive Jack Bauer and briefed all personnel on the situation. Hoffman wanted all hands on deck on this case, which means all agents in his field office should make apprehending Jack Bauer as their top priority. He also wanted his agents to coordinate with CTU and local law enforcements in terms of search and information sharing. After rallying his troops with his little speech about the importance of having Jack Bauer captured, he called Special Agent Sarah Ferris into his office.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Sarah said, and tried to hide her nervousness.

"Where's Riley? We got a major situation here and we need all hands on deck." Hoffman asked.

"Un…well, he is chasing down a lead for the Medoza case. I'll get him back to the office ASAP." Sarah just lied to her boss and she was really conflicted about it. She knew Scott wasn't the type of the guy who liked to slack off during work hour or worse, a dirty agent. Scott always had been a good friend and a good agent. She indeed learned a lot from him. Scott always had a good reason for doing things his way. However, breaking rules and regulations was something Sarah was really uncomfortable with, especially since those rules and regulations had been drilled into her mind when she was in Quantico. Sarah really hoped this was the last time she had to cover for his partner.

"You do that. And tell Riley if he went on chasing lead without informing me first I'm gonna have his badge."

"Yes, sir. Anything else?"

"That's all for now. Dismissed." Hoffman said, and then he picked up his phone and started making calls.

As Sarah walked out of Hoffman's office, Stan Hoffman had a slight suspicion that Sarah was covering for her partner. He always considered Scott Riley as some sort of loose cannon. Despite the fact that he was a damn good agent, Hoffman couldn't help but to think that he was a bad influence for the fresh new recruit like Sarah. At the moment, he put those thoughts into the back of his head. He would deal with Scott and Sarah later once this Bauer situation was resolved.

As she walked toward her cubicle, Sarah became worried. Scott had called her about an hour ago. However, when Sarah picked up the line went dead. She called back several times but only thing she got was his voice mail. It was very unusual for Scott not to call back. Having no choice, Sarah decided to ask the analyst she didn't like, Kristin Gordon, for help. She walked to Kristin's cubicle.

"What do you want?" Kristin noticed Sarah approaching. She said that coldly without turning her head to greet Sarah.

Sarah sighed. "Look. I know you don't like me and honestly, I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'm still a newbie in this field office or whatever reasons. But right now I really need your help…" Sarah tried hard to hide his dislike but failed. She thought maybe direct approach works in this case.

"I thought you said you know how to run queries in our database." Kristin said in a somewhat sarcastic tone while still looking at her monitors.

"No, it's not that. I can't get a hold of Scott. Can you help me find him?"

"Does Hoffman know Scott's missing?" Kristin stopped what she was doing and turned her head to Sarah

Sarah simply shook her head.

"Look, Sarah. Let me give you an advice. If you want any future within the Bureau, you should stop covering for your partner. Lying to your boss will only get you suspended and it's gonna leave a huge black mark on your record." Kristin said. "As much as I enjoying watch you crash and burn I gonna help you find Scott first. As Hoffman said, we got a major situation and we need all hands on deck. Has Scott called you within the hour?"

"Yeah, he called me about an hour ago. I tried to call him but all I got is his voice mail."

"Then I will use that call to trace Scott's last known location. Give me couple of minutes and we'll know where Scott is."

"Okay. Thank you." Sarah said sincerely as Kristin started typing in a set of commands.

**10:50:07**

**Downtown Los Angeles**

After successfully his successful escape from the CTU TAC team, Jack got off the street of downtown and went into a dark alley to catch his breath for a moment. Suddenly his cell phone rang. He answered.

"Jack, what the hell is going on? I got report saying you took out the IRK foreign minister instead of Kirilenko…" General Rawlins asked.

_That man was IRK foreign minister?_ Jack was surprised by this revelation, but he reminded level-headed. "General, I didn't kill the IRK foreign minister. Someone else did. I think it was part of Kirilenko maneuverings."

"Wait…Are you implying Kirilenko had something to do with the assassination of IRK foreign minister?"

"Just before I tried to take the shot at Kirilenko, someone shot the IRK foreign minister in the head and fired the multiple shots at the office. If that person intended to kill both IRK foreign minister and Kirilenko, he wouldn't have missed Kirilenko whom had been stationary at the time. Besides, that person shot up the office afterward, which clearly indicates that the shooter tried to make it look like a botched assassination, hence shifting suspicion from Kirilenko and the Russians" Jack explained.

"Goddamnit! Kirilenko is one step ahead of us…Jack, the operation has failed. I will try to get you to out of the country…"

"Let's get one thing straight, General, I don't trust you. You've ask me to assassinate Kirilenko because you want someone who can give you plausible deniability. I took the job not because of you or your reasoning. It's because those people who have died 18 months ago deserve some justice. That's why I'm gonna finish this." Despite what he said, Jack wasn't completely sure on whether or not he wanted to finish this. His mind still struggled with the idea that is this what Renee would have wanted. However, at the moment he wanted to push that idea aside and focus on the current situation. He needed to find some answers about Kirilenko.

"Jack, if I really care about plausible deniability I wouldn't even be bothered making this call. I can just left you right where you are and denied my involvement if anyone asks, but that's not my style. Unlike those politicians and bureaucrats, I leave no man behind. I didn't leave my teams behind during Desert Storm and I'm not gonna start now. You want to finish the job? Perhaps I can provide some assistance…" General Rawlins countered.

Jack hesitated for a moment. He still didn't trust General Rawlins completely. But then again, the General really had no reason to call him. If he wanted deniability, General Rawlins would just sit back and wait for the mess to dissolve itself. Jack also remembered how he was left behind in a Chinese prison by people like James Heller. Therefore, he decided to take a small leap of faith.

"General, I don't think you can help me much. I think Kirilenko might have some knowledge of your operation otherwise we wouldn't send an assassin and conveniently framed me…"

"That's impossible. I kept the circle very small. Only a handful of people know you're going to assassinate Kirilenko. However, I'll start checking to see if there's any possible leak from my end…Meanwhile just sit tight."

"General, with all due respect, we had to hit Kirilenko as fast as we can. Otherwise he'll be out of the country. Right now the only thing I need you to do is to help me find a person's number…"

**10:58:36**

**The O'Brian Residence**

Chloe O'Brian was currently preparing her lunch. After Jack went into hiding, the FBI came to her house in New York and arrested her for aiding and abetting a federal fugitive in front of her family, effectively stripping her the title of Acting Director of CTU New York. Originally, because of her refusal to cooperate with the federal agency, Chloe was facing up to minimum of 15 years of prison sentence. Fortunately, Ethan Kanin,who, at the request of former President Allison Taylor, vouched for Chloe and talked to Tim Woods, the Secretary of Homeland Security on the possibility of a reduced sentence due to Chloe's past services. Plus, Morris also hired a really good defense attorney for her as well. As a result, Chloe only had to serve a few months of prison sentence inside a minimum security prison. She thought it was probably the best outcome she could get out of the whole mess. Shortly after her incarceration, Morris actually found a job as a senior consultant at a technology company in LA. As a result, Morris and Prescott moved back to LA. Eventually, Chloe joined them in LA after being released from minimum security prison. Despite having worked as a senior analyst in CTU for many years, because of her jail sentence, Chloe couldn't find any similar positions in the private sector. As a result, she opted for working as a freelance technology contractor, which allowed her to have more free time and stay at home to take care of Prescott. This week Morris actually used his mandatory vacation time and took Prescott to London to visit Morris' parents. Chloe wanted to go with them but she got a meeting with an important client schedule two days from now, so she remained in LA. She thought on the plus side, she didn't have to deal with the in-laws. Suddenly, her phone rang. She picked it up.

"Chloe, it's Jack. I need your help." Jack said in his no-nonsense voice.

"Jack?" Chloe was truly shocked. She hadn't had a chance to speak to Jack since he went into hiding. _What is he doing in Los Angeles when he is still on the run from both US and Russian authorities? _She worried…

**10:59:57...10:59:58...10:59:59...11:00:00**

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**:O ! Again, Hope you guys enjoy the story! :) Please Read and Review**


	5. 11:00AM 12:00PM

_**Author's Note:**_

_First of all, I just want to say I'm extremely grateful for all of the reviews, and thank you so much all for reading my story!_

_Second, most of the scenarios described in my story are strictly __**fictitious. **__Therefore, some of the stuff I wrote might be a bit off comparing to real life (i.e. travelling time, weapon handling, inter-agency protocols etc). Some of creative liberties were taken. I hope you guys won't mind :) As for grammar mistakes, sometimes I will go back and re-read some of my chapters and finding out some grammar errors etc. As a result, I'll usually try to fix those errors in earlier chapter when I post the next chapter. I will definitely try to watch out for those mistakes in the future (It doesn't help when you write in wee hours of the night LOL). Again, I hope those mistakes didn't ruin anyone's reading experience._

_Third, I must apologize for the slow update. Part of the reason is due to life obligations. Part of the reason is due to planning future chapters/mapping out story arcs. Plus, this chapter is the longest chapter to date. I hope you guy still enjoy the story despite the slow update._

_Anyway enough with my rambling let's roll the tape…_

_**Disclaimer**__: I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P_

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**Previously on 24**

Renee Walker successfully escape from her apartment while Kirilenko's man, Vasili Chernov trying to hunt her down. After being discovered by CTU drone, Jack Bauer was able to escape from the perimeter set up by CTU. Afterward, Jack Bauer was able to contact Chloe with the help of General Rawlins. Meanwhile, Secretary of the State Kevin Ross convinced President Hayworth use Bauer as a bargaining chip in diplomatic negotiation.

**The following takes place between 11:00AM and 12:00AM**

**11:02:38**

**Chatsworth**

After Vasili Chernov got out of the underground parking of Renee's apartment complex before the police arrived, he quickly walked into a back alley a couple blocks down from Renee's apartment. He discarded his balaclava, his tactical chest rig filled with AK magazines, his Kevlar vest, and his AMD-65 assault rifle, into the dumpster. After getting rid of anything that would incriminate him, Chernov casually walked to his car. As he got into his car, the LAPD, SWAT, and fire department had arrived at the scene. The scene was chaotic at best. Police and SWAT were trying to set up a perimeter around the apartment and the firefighters were trying to put out the burning car nearby. Because Chernov's car was parked a couple of blocks away from the apartment, he drove away without attracting any suspicion. While driving, he summed up his courage and called his boss, Nicholai Kirilenko to inform him the situation.

"Colonel" Despite the fact that Kirilenko was not with the GRU anymore, he still preferred his men refer him by his rank. "We got a problem. That FBI agent got another informant. My men and I tried to take the informant out but that informant killed two of my men and escaped." Chernov didn't want to mention that the informant was a woman at the moment. In his mind, it was quite humiliating that he and his men got bested by a woman.

_How the hell did that FBI agent get another informant? And who the hell is this informant?_ Kirilenko thought."Do you have an ID of this informant?" Kirilenko asked, while trying to reframe his boiling anger and urges to shout out a string of Russian profanities at the phone. Even though he was behind the closed door of an office which the Russian Consul kindly provided for him, Kirilenko didn't want to attract attention.

"It's a woman. I don't know who she is, but judging by the way she handled herself, she's probably ex-law enforcement." Chernov emphasized on the last part. "Colonel, consider the gravity of the situation, I need additional support."

Kirilenko pondered for a short moment. Originally, he got another assignment in the pipeline for Chernov after Chernov takes care of the FBI agent. However, now it seemed that Chernov got sidetracked by this mysterious informant. Fortunately for Kirilenko, because of Jack Bauer being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Lovonski's team was suddenly available at the moment. He could assign Chernov additional men and have Lovonski taking care of the other assignment.

"Permission granted. I'll mobilize unit 4 and 5 to aide you in hunting this mysterious informant down. You'll rendezvous with both units and take command of them. I will also tell our assets in the FBI to help you locate this woman. Captain, I don't need to remind you the importance of having this woman taking care of. We need to assume this woman has the knowledge that could undo what we accomplished three weeks ago."

"_da_, Colonel. I'm on my way to rendezvous with both units." Chernov said.

After Kirilenko hanged up, he became worried that this could lead to a total disaster for him. _Who is that woman exactly? CIA? NSA? CTU? or FBI? And how does she possess the knowledge of the false flag operation I ran in Moscow 3 weeks ago? Every person with the knowledge of my plan was accounted for. With those bodies of IRK agents at the crime scene, there is not a single soul that will suspect that my Spetnaz units for conducting the nerve gas attack in Moscow's subway network...Anyway. I shall have my answer soon enough once I contacted the asset inside the FBI. One thing is for certain. That bitch will be dead by the end of the day._ Kirilenko thought.

**11:12:19**

**FBI LA Field Office**

Special Agent Sarah Ferris had been called to a Conference Room by her boss, Stan Hoffman. Oblivious to the gravity of her situation, she thought it was probably just another routine briefing concerning the Bauer situation. Once she walked into the conference room, she noticed that there were only two people inside. One was her boss, Hoffman, who was standing beside the conference room table with his arms crossed, and another was Kristin Gordon, the analyst who was sitting at the conference table typing away on her laptop.

_Crap. Kristin told Hoffman._ Sarah realized upon seeing the scene.

"When you told me that Agent Riley was chasing down a lead in the Medoza case you're covering for him aren't you?" Hoffman said firmly.

"Yes, sir..." Sarah lowered her head and admitted that. At the moment she sounded like a 10-years old child who was sent to the principal's office for doing something wrong. "Is he...alright?" Sarah then asked worriedly. Her head was still lowered.

"He's dead." Hoffman closed his eyes and sighed.

Shocked and dumbfound by what Hoffman said, Sarah raised her head and her eyes widened. "What...How is that possible?" Looking at both Hoffman and Kristin in absolute disbelief, Sarah managed muttered the question.

"After you told me Scott called you minutes ago, I managed to trace his phone call and got his last known location. However, I also got a report from LAPD saying that there was a serious incident in that location as well. A car blew up and there was a reported shooting in an apartment across the exploded car. I already spoke with the lead detective at the scene. There were five bodies in the apartment complex and two of the bodies appeared to be the shooters. There were also two remains inside the exploding car. The firefighter found a partially destroyed FBI badge on one the remains. I ran the partial serial on the badge and it confirmed my worst fear: That badge belongs to Agent Scott Riley." Kristin said, while tried to remain professional.

"Oh My God...No..." Sarah covered her mouth with her hands in absolute horror. She never thought this time would truly be her last time covering for Scott. Suddenly, the weight of guilt started falling down on her shoulders_. If I told Hoffman the truth three hours ago, none of these would have happened._ As she blamed herself for her partner's demise, tears began to roll down her cheeks.

After seeing this, Hoffman and Kristin decided to wait for a minute to let Sarah compose herself. "Agent Ferris, do you know what exactly Scott was doing in that neighborhood?" Hoffman asked.

"I...I don't know..." Sarah said in sobs. "Scott told me to run a name he got off from one of his old informant in New York...The name he wanted me to run is Nicholai Kirilenko...I only found a report in our database containing this name...That name is only mentioned once in the report and it is not even relevant to the report itself. Scott said that he was gonna chase down a lead concerning this Nicholai Kirilenko character..." Sarah tried to compose herself again. "Other than that, he didn't tell me who he was going to meet or where he was going...I'm so sorry about all this..."

"Sarah, I know Scott is a good friend of yours. I'm sorry." Hoffman tried to sound sympathetic to Sarah's situation. However, at the moment, a loss of an agent angered him. He tried to keep that anger in check and not to display it. "You do understand that because you did not follow the proper protocol, a federal agent is killed...I have no choice but to suspending you indefinitely. Clean out your desk and hand in your badge and gun. Once we have a clearer picture of what's going on we'll talk again."

Sarah tried to protest but before the word leaves her month she was hit again with the realization that it was her fault to begin with. "Yes, sir." Guilt ridden, she managed to mutter those words. After she said them, she wiped the tears off her face and walked out of the conference room in defeat. As she walked to her cubicle, Sarah tried to hide the profound sadness that was displayed on her face.

After Sarah left the conference room, Hoffman turned to Kristin. "So do we have any lead on this?" He asked.

"Well, according to the LAPD, out of five bodies inside the apartment complex, three of them were found inside an apartment. According to the super of the building, a woman named Anne O'Connor rents the said apartment" Kristin pressed a few keys and the picture of Anne O'Connor's California driver's license appeared on the giant LCD TV besides Hoffman. Unknown best to both Hoffman and Kristin, the picture on the driver's license was actually Renee Walker's picture.

"Out of those three bodies, one is identified as her neighbor across the hall, and LAPD are still trying to ID the other two bodies. But their preliminary report indicates that those two bodies could be the gunmen who did the shooting inside the apartment since weapons are found besides them." Kristin said in a very professional manner.

"So this Anne O'Connor is the only lead at the moment." Hoffman looked at Renee's picture on the LCD screen. "Judging by what you said, it seems like someone wants her dead. If she's smart she probably tries to stay low and try to get out of town...You mentioned there are two gunmen. Did she kill those attackers or some else did?"

"At the moment, we're not sure. The reports from LAPD are still sketchy at best."

Now Hoffman had a dilemma. He already promised the White House and CTU that his office would devout all of resources in capturing Jack Bauer. However he also wanted to get a clear picture on why one of his agents ended up dead by bringing this Anne O'Connor in. If he wanted to do so, then he would have to divert resources from the manhunt for Jack Bauer. Hoffman pondered for a short moment. Normally, investigating a death of an FBI agent always takes the top priority. However, because the urgency of the Bauer situation, he was gonna have to make the hard decision. He would have to put the investigation for the death of Agent Riley in the back burner for now. Hoffman believed that since every law enforcement agencies in the country were looking for Jack Bauer, Jack Bauer should be captured very soon. Once the Bauer situation is resolved, he could pursuit the investigation with the Bureau's full resources. However, he would like someone to start up the investigation.

"Notify the LAPD and locals to be on the lookout for Anne O'Connor as well. I will assign McBride and Parker to work on this. Kristin, once you pull the case file Sarah said, forward it to and me and them. Also tell them to work with LAPD on this. Once we got the Bauer situation handed we'll pursuit this with our full attention and resources." Hoffman ordered.

"Sir, I'd like to work on this as well."

"Kristin, I really need you on the Bauer case. There's no one else in this building that can coordinate the inter-agency protocols as effective as you do."

"Sir, if I may, I'm a very good multitasker. I can work on both cases at the same time without any problem. It's not like I haven't been swarmed with that kind of workload before. Besides, Scott is a good friend of mine, and I'd like to get to the bottom of this as well." Kristin said in a very professional tone.

Hoffman hesitated for a moment. "OK. But the Bauer case is still your priority. Do a background check on this Anne O'Connor and send it to McBride and me as well." He trusted Kristin's abilities. In addition, having an experienced analyst work on this might shorten the workload and time on the investigation.

**11:21:45**

**Newhall, Santa Clarita **

After Jack called her, Chloe told Jack to meet her at a storage warehouse in Newhall, Santa Clarita. Chloe had rented a large storage locker there which housed some of her high end tech equipments. After serving her prison sentence, she found herself in a position where she could not effectively help Jack or Jack's family in the event of danger. As a result, after she moved back to LA, Chloe decided that having a secret substation which allowed her to tap into CTU and other law enforcement agencies' network was a way to go. That way if the need arises, she could easily provided support for Jack if he managed to contact her. Chloe had rented the storage unit under an alias in order to ensure that none of these could be traced to her or her family. Morris seemed to frown upon this idea of having a secret base or some sort, but he remained supportive nevertheless. He was even kindly enough to get her some of high-end hardware and software through his old black market contacts.

Jack arrived at the storage warehouse and saw her waiting in front of a storage locker. He quickly made sure there's no one around the area before approaching Chloe's location.

Standing in front of her storage locker, Chloe was a bit nervous about meeting Jack. The last time she spoke to Jack was about 18 months ago when she helped him getting out of the country. Suddenly, Jack Bauer appeared besides her.

"Hey." He said. He startled Chloe.

"Jack." Chloe then gave Jack a friendly hug. It was like a meeting between two old friends, except the circumstance was less than ideal.

"You look great." Chloe said, awkwardly.

"Thank you."

"How are Kim and her family?"

"After you escaped the country, Cole and Arlo managed to move them to a secured safe house before I was arrested. With their help, they went into hiding…" Chloe said as she opened the storage locker she rented. Although she wasn't there, Cole told her that Kim and her family were very upset about going into hiding under assumed identities at first, but somehow, Cole managed to convince her to do so. "They are living in Denver under assumed identities. Cole also moved there to keep an eye of them. So far, there has been no sign of trouble…"

Jack nodded sadly. He knew it would happen. However, he could take some solace that his family was at least safe. Despite that, his heart still ached for Kim and Teri. He hated himself for putting them in the hardship like that and he thought Kim must hate him because of it. Jack also heard about Chloe's arrest and her subsequent prison sentence. He could guess Chloe was arrested for helping escape the country. Jack felt extremely terrible for putting Chloe in such position. He also felt terrible for dragging Chloe into his mess again, but he didn't have a choice. Right now, he did not have anyone other than Chloe he could trust. Chloe, on the other hand, noticed Jack's 'I'm so sorry' look. She knew Jack must have felt responsible for what happened to her. Therefore, she then gave Jack an 'It's okay' look. It was her choice to help Jack. Chloe simply didn't want Jack to feel guilty about that. Jack then acknowledged that.

After they went into Chloe's storage locker, Chloe flipped the light switch and then she closed the storage locker. Inside, there was a long desk resided against the wall of the storage locker. There were three huge LCD monitors on the desk. The keyboards, wireless mice, headsets and various equipments were neatly laid on the desk as well. There were three additional monitors hanging on the wall above the desk. Chloe took a seat at the desk while Jack was putting down his duffel bag.

"So what are you doing here? I thought you're supposed to be hiding?" Chloe asked.

"I was. I got an Intel about the cover up 18 months ago. It appears that there's another player named Nicholai Kirilenko who was involved in President Hassan's assassination and the nuclear threat in that day, and now he wants to cause a war between Russia and IRK. I was brought back by a US General named Rawlins to deal with the situation unofficially" Jack said.

"Unofficially...so you tried to kill this Nicholai Kirilenko?" Chloe knew Jack too well. He was not gonna let everyone who had a hand in Renee's murder get away.

"Yeah, however it seems Kirilenko was one step ahead. His sniper took out the IRK foreign minister and I was spotted in the same building as the shooter by a CTU drone. "Jack said. No point hiding his personal motive from Chloe now.

"So that's why your APB was put out to every law enforcement agencies across the country all of the sudden." Before leaving her home, Chloe ran the two names Jack gave her over the phone: General Jeremiah Rawlins and Nicholai Kirilenko. While tapping into various agencies' databases, she found that there was an APB on Jack Bauer, just like that day 18 months ago.

While Chloe was speaking, she inserted an USB drive into one of the machines.

"I did a check on this General Rawlins like you asked." She pulled up General Rawlins' file on one of the LCD screens. "He's a Lieutenant General in the army. He's also a distinguished and decorated officer and was involved in many classified operations in his career. Before he became a 3-Star general, he actually fought in Desert Storm. After Desert Storm his military career has been on a steady rise. His family was killed in that terrible nuclear attack in Valencia a few years back. After that tragedy, he became an outspoken critic on the Russians and their arm proliferation. So far, aside from criticizing the Russians and classified operations, his record is clean..."

Chloe paused for a moment, and then said. "Jack, I know you are still upset about Renee's death. We all are. But you cannot go around and taking matter into your own hands. Is that what Renee would want?" Chloe said.

A hint of anger suddenly appeared on Jack's face. Jack felt like he was punched in his gut. That was the question Jack was struggling with_. Is that what Renee really would want him to do? It's her life he's avenging_...

"Do you have anything on Kirilenko?" Jack asked, tried to shift the discussion topic.

"Yeah." After noticing the hint of anger on Jack's face, Chloe quickly dropped the topic. She then pulled up Kirilenko's files on the same LCD screen.

"There wasn't much on Kirilenko. According to the database in Langley, he was a former GRU colonel who was suspected of WMD trafficking, however, the CIA didn't find any evidence to prove that claim. After serving in GRU, he later went into oil and natural gas businesses. As of now, he controls a great deal of pipelines in the Caspian Sea region. According to the CIA, he is a hardliner who advocates for increasing Russia's power in surrounding regions, and recently, he seems to be gaining influence in Russia...That all they had on Kirilenko."

"WMD trafficking fits the bill. According to Rawlins, Kirilenko is the one who gave the Russian mob those nuclear fuel rods."

"Jack, if Kirilenko was involved in the events 18 months ago, there should be evidences that could prove the Russian's involvement. Maybe he has kept evidences as leverage in case Suvarov wants to eliminate him. If we can get him maybe he will talk..." Chloe quickly explained.

"The Russians have pretty much destroyed all evidences concerning with the events 18 months ago, since UN and Justice couldn't find a thing to tie the Russians with those attacks. If Kirilenko is part of the Russian cabal then chances are he's not gonna leave any evidence that could incriminate them or himself around. We can ask him once we find him. Do you know where he is now? "Jack said. Truth to be told, he was still undecided on what to do when he finds Kirilenko.

"After IRK foreign minister Al-Fulani's assassination, he and rest of the Russian delegation were evacuated to the Russian Consulate. Since then they have increase the Consulate's security. Jack, there is no way you can get in there if you want to get close to Kirilenko. They had fortified that place with heavily armed guards and state of the art security systems..." Chloe said.

"We can use Al-Fulani's shooter."Jack said. "Kirilenko obviously wants Al-Fulani out of the picture so the crisis talk won't reach any resolution. Once we got Al-Fulani's shooter we can probably get a clear picture on Kirilenko's operation in US. Maybe we can use that to get him out of the Consulate...Can you pull those traffic and security cameras surrounding Hilbert grand Hotel one hour ago? I was inside the same building as Al-Fulani's shooter. He must have got out of the building in some way.

Chloe complied and all of the traffic and security camera feeds were displayed on every LCD screen. Jack then noticed something weird. He told Chloe to enlarge one of the feed.

"Right there!" Jack pointed to the screen where the enlarged camera feed was shown. "CTU TAC team members don't usually use rifle bags. Besides, in this situation he should be brandishing his weapons instead of concealing them...Unless his weapon is not part of the standard CTU arsenal... That's Al-Fulani's shooter! Chloe, I need you to keep tracking him through the traffic and security cameras. Call me once you have his location. I'm gonna be on the move."

Without a beat, Chloe quickly typing away on her keyboard and pulling out related camera feeds. Jack took out a messenger bag from his duffel bags and filled it with weapons, ammo magazines, electronics, and other essential equipments. He then readied his USP Compact pistol and got out of Chloe's storage locker.

**11:31:33**

**Tarzana**

After escaping from the gunman, Renee had been driving aimlessly. She tried to clear her head and sort through her emotions. Once she calmed herself down, she pulled over and started to think about her current situation. She knew the Russians were after her, but for what reasons? The obvious one was that she was a potential witness because she could link the Russians to the assassination of late IRK President Omar Hassan and the dirty bomb attack in Manhattan 18 months ago. Or it was because she could also link this Kirilenko to the nerve gas attack in Moscow 3 week prior? And how do those Russians knew where she was? The only ones who knew were Special Agent Scott Riley and the US Marshals. At the moment, Renee had too many questions and did not know how where to start.

_Scott was definitely meeting me in secret, which means he couldn't tell anyone, including the FBI, about our meeting. He must have someone covering for him back at the FBI so that it didn't look like he was breaking protocol by not reporting where he was going, hence no one will question him about where had he been...Scott must have told someone he can trust to cover for him, and who do you trust in this case? Definitely his partner, if he has one. Maybe his partner knows something I don't._ Renee thought it was a long shot and risky at the best, but right now she couldn't think of any plan.

Renee started to strategize her next move. First, she had to call the FBI to find if Scott had a partner or a best friend who would cover for him. She took out a prepaid cell phone from her messenger bag and started to dial the number of FBI LA Field Office. Renee thought about the irony that in her FBI career, she used to track and bust criminals and terrorists who utilized these so called 'burner phones' in order to stay anonymous, and now she was doing the same thing. She sighed as the phone began to ring.

**FBI LA Field Office**

Special Agent Sarah Ferris was packing her stuff into a cardboard box. She noticed a picture on her cubicle wall held by a push pin. It was a picture of her and Scott. She couldn't help but to get teary eyes again. The picture was taken months ago in an office birthday party. They were both making funny faces when the picture was taken. As Sarah reminisced that moment, Scott's phone suddenly rang.

_It seems like the news of Scott's death hasn't reached the FBI operator yet._ Sarah thought. She wiped the tears off her eyes and composed herself before picking up the phone.

"Hello, Scott's phone." Sarah answered, while trying her best at sounding professional.

"Hello, is it Special Agent Scott Riley's partner?" Renee said over the phone.

"Un...Yes. This is Special Agent Sarah Ferris." Technical, Sarah wasn't a Special Agent at this moment." May I ask who is calling?" Sarah remained professional, despite her suspicion about the mysterious caller.

"This is Anne O'Connor." Renee decided that it was for the best if she used her given alias to protect her actual identity, since from past experience, one can never to be too careful when dealing with strangers who might actually turn out to be not who say they are. "I spoke with Special Agent Scott Riley moments before he was killed..."

"What...? How...?" Sarah said in profound shocked and confusion_. Who the hell is this Anne O'Connor? And why is she calling? _Wait, _Scott had mentioned earlier that he was gonna chase down a lead about Kirilenko._ _Could she be the lead?_

"Look, I have information concerning Scott's investigation. I cannot talk about it over the phone. Can I speak with you alone?" Renee said.

_That confirms she is Scott's lead._ "...OK. Where?" Sarah asked, still unsure whether or not this mysterious woman was telling the truth.

"Sunrise Hill Shopping Mall. Do you have number where I can reach you?" Renee thought about meeting Scott's partner in some dark alley or underground parking. Both options would give her privacy but it was too risky, especially she was unsure who's side was Scott's partner on.

_She could bring a platoon of Russians to the meeting if she was working for the Russians. It's better to play it smart._ Renee thought.

Therefore, she chose a more public place for the meeting. Renee could easily blend into the crowd if something goes wrong. Plus, Russians would try to stay discreet and would not do anything stupid in a public environment, especially with a crowd presents. Renee couldn't help but to notice the same irony again, that she was acting like the people who she tracked or busted in her FBI career. Truth to be told, Renee was quite annoyed by the irony.

Sarah agreed to meet this mysterious woman and gave this mysterious woman her number. She was still suspicious about it. Sarah wanted to get to the bottom of this and find out why her partner died. She could just go alone to meet this mysterious woman since technically, she was suspended and not working for the Bureau anymore. Therefore, FBI protocol didn't apply to her in this case. However, the FBI agent inside of her insisted that she talked to Hoffman first. After struggling with both options for a brief moment, she decided to go to Hoffman.

"Sir, I know I was suspended but I think I got a call from Scott's informant he was seeing this morning...a woman named Anne O'Connor..." Sarah said as she walked into Hoffman's office.

"Wait, did you just say the woman's name is Anne O'Connor?" Hoffman was surprised. He didn't tell Sarah that Anne O'Connor was the person of extreme interest in this case.

"Yes. She told me that she has information about Scott's investigation and she wanted to meet me at the Sunrise Hill shopping mall. She told me to come alone...Wait, you knew who she is?"

"Yes, she lived in the apartment besides the location where Scott was killed. LAPD found bodies inside her apartment. Those bodies appear to be hit men since silenced weapons are also found on the scene." Hoffman said.

"That could explain why she wants me to come alone...Sir, I know you suspended me but I want to be the one who brings her in. She knows my voice so that might make me only one she will talk to...besides, I own this to Scott." Sarah said firmly.

Hoffman thought about it for a brief moment. _This might be a good chance for resolving Scott's case quickly. Plus Sarah's right, if I sent another agent, it might spook her and she will disappear into the underground. However, I can only spare a few agents for tactical support. But then again, nothing indicates Anne O'Connor is dangerous. If she did took out those guys in her apartment it was probably by fluke. I guess it'll have to do for now._

"Alright. I'm lifting the suspension temporarily. I will assign you with McBride's team. McBride is on point in this one. I will forward you this Anne O'Connor's dossier Kristin had compiled. I already read it. So far she's a law-binding citizen so there should be nothing to worry about. Bring her back here so we can learn more about the circumstance surrounding Scott's death. I'll inform McBride the situation."

"Yes sir. I will bring her back here ASAP." Sarah said with full determination. She had to make this right.

**11:40:32**

**The Cossack, West Hollywood**

The Cossack was an Eastern European cabaret club located in West Hollywood. It was also the rendezvous point for Viktor Lovonski and his men. The owner of this cabaret club shut down his business for a week to accommodate Kirilenko's operatives simply because the owner was terrified of Kirilenko and former GRU operatives under his command. Kirilenko's operatives had been using this club as rendezvous point and staging area. The cabaret club has a very distinct Eastern European atmosphere. There was a stage that allowed various artists to perform their arts, however, at the moment the stage was occupied by various military crates and hardware.

There were old fashioned circular and long rectangular dining tables that occupied the main floor of the club. There was also a bar, which was where Viktor Lovonski was sitting. He was drinking shots of vodka. On a rectangular table near him, there were various submachine guns and shotguns. Suddenly, Lovonski's smart phone vibrated. He checked his phone and saw a text message with a file attached. He assumed that's information for his next assignment. The text stated that additional men will arrive at this rendezvous point for the mission. The attached file contained the dossier of Lovonski' next unfortunate victim: A Russian man named Valentin Polyakov. Lovonski opened the file and started reading.

Jack was on the ledge of the next building besides the cabaret club. From there, he had a clear view of club's back alley. Right now there were two men standing in front of the club's backdoor. It seemed like both men were taking a smoking break as oppose to guard duties. However, both men seemed to be carrying weapons under their jackets. A white van drove up and stopped around the club's right corner. Four men got out of the van but the driver didn't. Those four men exchanged some pleasantries with the two men taking a smoke break and entered the club through the backdoor. Once he got to the ground level, Jack decided to approach from the side where the van was parked.

The van's driver was listening to the radio. While he was completely immersed in the music from the radio, he failed to notice a man approach from the side of his vehicle. Suddenly, Jack broke the driver's side window with his right elbow, and then in one swooping motion, Jack extended his right arm and literally shoved his silenced USP Compact pistol to the driver's chest. Before the driver could realize what happened, Jack pulled the trigger twice.

Jack then silently moved toward the two smokers besides the fire exit. Those two smokers were facing each other and talking. They were simply hanging out. Suddenly, Jack appeared and grabbed one of the smokers with his left hand. Jack then quickly shot that man in the back. Before the other man could draw his weapon, Jack shot him once in the chest.

After taking care of those men outside of the club, Jack raised his silenced pistol and carefully moved into the club's backroom through the backdoor. He moved through the narrow hallway carefully. Jack then reached the swing door that lead to the heart of the club. He peaked out the window on the door and saw there were five men on the left side of the room from his point of view. One of the men was sitting on the bar stool talking to the rest of the men. The other four were standing beside a table full of weapons. They were checking and readying those weapons.

_With those kind of firepower, it seems like they are gonna be hitting somewhere. _Jack thought. He then took out his smart phone and checked one of the traffic cam pictures Chloe sent him. The picture showed Lovonski driving. Jack then peeked out from the door window again. The man in the picture was indeed the man sitting on a bar stool. _He's the shooter._ Jack thought, as he took out an M84 stun grenade and readied himself for an assault entry.

While Lovonski was talking to his men about the mission, from the corner of his eye he caught the swing door opened slightly and one small object rolled out toward him and his men. Following his Instinct, Lovonski quickly hop over to other side of the bar counter and used it as cover. Suddenly, the stun grenades went off and emitted a very loud bang and blinding flash, effectively stun all four men who were still standing beside the table full of weapons. Before those men can react, Jack Bauer kicked the swing door open and started shooting at those men. Two of Jack's bullets found his mark on one man's chest and another bullet hit one man right between his eyes.

The two other men recovered quickly. They quickly grabbed a TMP submachine gun and a stockless M3T shotgun from the weapon pile on the table. They quickly flipped the table to use it as cover. One man with the submachine gun pop up from the top of the make shift cover and opened fired on Jack's position trying to pin Jack down. The other man with the shotgun moved along the tables and chairs trying to flank Jack.

After noticing that, Jack quickly ducked down behind a rectangular table beside him. He then flipped the table over by pushing it with his shoulder, and then he used the table as a make shift cover. Fortunately, the table was thick and hardened enough to stop bullets from submachine gun fire, but not for long. As bullets whizzing pass him and hitting his make shift cover, Jack calmly reloaded his USP Compact pistol.

Meanwhile, hiding behind the bar counter, Lovonski sent a text message to Kirilenko stating that the rendezvous point had been compromised. Afterward, he quickly threw his phone to the floor and shot it repeatedly with his M1911 pistol. He also smashed the phone's remain with the pistol grip to make sure the SIM card became unreadable.

After reloaded his pistol, Jack noticed a man was trying to flank him from his left. He quickly pointed his pistol at his left and fired two shots. The man who tried to flank Jack was down before he got a chance to fire his shotgun. Still under fire from the submachine gun and Lovonski's pistol, Jack knew his current cover won't hold out much longer. He then took out another stun grenade from his messenger bag and threw it over his cover. The stun grenade landed just on top of the counter and it went off.

While both gunmen were stunned and disoriented, Jack then moved to those gunmen's left flank. Once he had a clear shot for the man with the TMP submachine gun he took it and the man fell down on the floor. Lovonski, while still disoriented, fired his M1911 at random directions until he ran out of ammo. However, he hit nothing but air. Jack then quickly rushed to Lovonski's position. He needed to take Lovonski alive.

"Drop you weapon! Now!" Jack shouted.

A disoriented Lovonski complied with Jack's order dropped his spent pistol. Jack quickly approached Lovonski, kicked Lovonski's M1911 pistol away, and then punched Lovonski in the face with his left hand. Lovonski got knocked down on his back by Jack.

Despite the fact Lovonski was not armed and on the ground, Jack still had his USP Compact pistol pointed at Lovonski. However, Lovonski looked at Jack defiantly.

"You and I need to have a little chat" Jack said to Lovonski, while looking down at Lovonski in full anger.

**11:48:19**

**Sunrise Hill Shopping Mall**

After arriving at the mall, Sarah received further instructions from Renee. Apparently Renee wanted to meet Sarah near the mall's indoor fountain. The mall's indoor fountain was located in the south building of the mall. Basically, it was located in the center of the intersection between two mall's main hallways. The second level balcony overlooked the fountain. There were a lot of kiosks near the fountain and in the main hallways. Special Agent McBride was sitting at a bench in the center of one of mall's main hallways. This position gave him a clear view at the fountain and Agent Ferris. In order to appear inconspicuous, Agent McBride was wearing plain cloth and pretended to read a newspaper. He thought the location was a surveillance nightmare since it was a public place full of people. The suspect could easily blend into the crowd making her really hard to spot. Nevertheless, he got one of the techs named Parker back in the office accessing the mall's internal video surveillance server. He also had two agents covering those hallways leading to the fountain. It should be easy once Sarah made the contact with the suspect.

"You OK, probie?" Agent McBride asked over the comm.

"Sarah was annoyed when people called her a probie, but considering the current situation, she was willing to let it slide."Yeah, no sighs of Anne O'Connor." Sarah said over her comm, while trying to hide her nervousness. It was not her first time in the field, but it was the first time she was being used as bait in a sting operation.

Meanwhile, Renee was already in the mall. Prior to entering the mall, she actually purchased a baseball cap from a nearby shop and put it on. She also put on her sunglasses to further conceal her identity. Today was a sunny day, and the weather was typical Californian weather. Therefore, Renee's overall look should not be too strange or standout among the crowd. Plus, with her baseball cap and sunglasses, people looking through those security cameras would have problem identifying her. Renee couldn't help but to get annoyed again that she was acting like a criminal trying to evade the authorities.

As Renee walked toward the fountain, she tried to scan the area around the fountain from a safe distance. She also tried to appear as casual and inconspicuous as possible. Renee had run similar operations for countless times in her FBI career. As a result, she knew what deployment patterns FBI would use in the situation like this one. She quickly deduced the possible locations of the hidden FBI agents. As an experienced FBI investigator, Renee could easily tell FBI agents and civilians apart. She noticed that there were two agents in plain clothes covering the hallways leading to the fountain. Renee also noticed that there was a young blonde woman in dark navy blue pantsuit standing beside the fountain.

_That must be Scott's partner, Special Agent Sarah Ferris._ Renee thought. The way that young woman dressed screamed FBI.

After scanning the area around the fountain from a safe distance, Renee quickly walked into a small hallway adjacent to one of the main hallways leading to the fountain. That small hallway led to washrooms and employee only area. Renee stood against the wall, arms crossed, pretended that she was waiting for someone inside the washroom. The position she was standing gave her a somewhat clear view of the fountain and its surrounding area. She started to strategize her next move. Renee had anticipated FBI agents to be present at the meeting. In fact, she was quite relieved to see FBI agents. That means Scott's partner was probably not working for the Russians. Now she just needed a way to talk to her in private.

_Maybe giving some kids some money to distract those FBI agents would work. _Renee thought. However she frowned at her idea of using innocent kids like that. The memory of her threatening Mrs. Vossler with her baby was still fresh. Suddenly, she noticed that on Sarah's left, a long dark auburn haired woman with shopping bags sat down on the ledge of the fountain near Sarah's position.

Sarah had read the operation briefing so she knew what Anne O'Connor looked like. At the moment, she thought that woman who just sat down on the ledge of the fountain looked liked Anne O'Connor. Uncertain of the situation, Sarah moved toward that woman.

"Excuse me, are you..." Sarah asked politely. Before she could finish her sentence she realized that woman was not Anne O'Connor. Although she was older and did look a little bit like her.

"Sorry. I thought you're someone I know." Sarah apologized politely. At the moment she felt like an idiot for recognizing the wrong person.

All of the sudden, a shopper nearby suddenly took out a Sig P226 pistol and double tapped that poor dark auburn haired woman in her chest with two consecutive shots. The poor woman's body fell into the fountain. Quickly, the gunman realized the mistake: That woman was not the target.

The crowd panicked and scattered to the nearest exits. The scene was chaotic at the best.

At this moment, Special Agent McBride and the other two FBI agents realized what went down and rushed to the scene with their guns drawn.

"FBI! Drop your weapon and get down on your knee! Now!" Agent McBride shouted. Agent McBride and one agent carefully approached the gunman from the gunman's front. Another agent approached the gunman from gunman's left side.

Sarah was dumbfound and shocked by what happened in front of her. She froze at the scene. Sarah indeed had worked on some field operations before, but in all of the ops she worked on, the situation always got resolved peacefully. Today was the first time she actually experienced a gunman killing an innocent bystander in front of her. She felt sick in her stomach. However, Agent McBride voice quickly brought her back to reality. Sarah quickly drew her Glock 26 pistol at the gunman.

Despite being surrounded by Federal agents, the gunman's face was cold and showed no fear. It was like he didn't care much for those FBI agents. He raised both his hands slowly tossed his gun into the fountain.

"Cuff him, probie." Agent McBride said, gesturing Sarah to cuff the gunman with his head.

Renee saw the entire event unfold quickly from her position and realized that those Russians were here as well. Her heart was beating fast from the fear and adrenaline. She needed to get out here, fast. She thought. It looked like FBI had the situation handled.

Those Russians had shown up here, _does it mean the FBI has been compromised? Otherwise how the hell did those Russians know I will be here? _Renee thought as she scanned her surroundings to make sure her surroundings were clear.

At the moment there were only a few shoppers present. Nearly all of the shoppers had already dispersed in panic or were in process of doing so.

Just as Sarah holstered her pistol and took out her handcuff, submachine gun fires from the second floor balcony cut down the other two agents besides Agent McBride. Apparently, Chernov had positioned two of his men with him on the second floor balcony overlooking the fountain. After one of his men killed that woman, Chernov noticed that woman did not match the picture he had on his smart phone, which was a picture of Renee from Anne O'Connor's driver's license. Seeing there were FBI agents at the scene, he ordered his other two men with him to open fire at those FBI agents. His men complied. They drew their MP5k-PDW submachine guns with optic sights from their jackets and opened fire. Chernov quickly headed for the escalators. He wanted to go to down to the ground level to search for his target.

As the gunman on the ground level saw two of the FBI agent on his left got gunned down from the submachine gun fire courtesy of his comrades, he noticed Special Agent McBride were distracted for a second. Quickly, his left hand raised his untucked shirt and his right hand quickly drew another Sig P226 pistol from his back. He then performed a Mozambique drill. He quickly fired two consecutive shots at Agent McBride's chest. Realizing Agent McBride was wearing a concealed bulletproof vest, he then quickly fired another shot at Agent McBride's head.

At the time, Sarah was still in shock about what she just witnessed. Before Sarah could react and drew her weapon out again, the gunman then turned to Sarah and fired two consecutive shots at Sarah's body. Two bullets hit her in her chest. Despite the fact she was also wearing a concealed bulletproof vest under her blouse, the force from those bullets still knocked Sarah down on the ground. Lying on her back, Sarah winced in pain. She felt like someone just broke some of her ribs. At the moment, Sarah was absolutely petrified and helpless.

In span of seconds, all the FBI agents at the scene were down.

The gunman prepared to finish Sarah off by shooting her right between her eyes. At this point, Sarah was horrified. She could see her entire life flashes through her eyes. All of the sudden, someone shot the gunman two times in his back. The gunman's body fell face-forward down.

After Renee quickly shot the gunman who was preparing to execute Sarah, she quickly moved toward to a kiosk near the fountain. The two gunmen on the second floor noticed that and started firing at Renee's direction. Staying low, she arrived behind the kiosk and used it as a cover. Hail of bullets hitting the wooden kiosk, knocking down objects and creating debris. With her back against the kiosk, Renee winced as debris raining down at her. While Renee was hiding behind the cover, one of the gunmen on the second floor balcony moved to his left, trying to flank Renee's position.

Meanwhile, upon seeing her executioner dead, Sarah's survival instinct kicked in. Despite burning pain on her chest, Sarah was able to crawl to a kiosk near her and used it as cover. Once behind the kiosk, she sat up, leaned against the kiosk, and panted in pain. Sarah quickly drew her Glock 26 pistol. She thought she heard someone calling her name and telling her to stay low. Turning to her left, she saw woman with a dark auburn pony tail across the fountain. The woman was also hiding behind a kiosk. Is that _Anne O'Connor? _Sarah thought. At the moment, Sarah was terrified by the entire situation she found herself in.

Once Renee told Agent Ferris to stay low, she feel the bullets whizzing pass over her head, literally. She then pop out from her left and opened fired her Glock 19 pistol at the gunman on the second floor in quick succession. Her bullets went hit the gunman and shattered the glass balcony fence in process. The gunman fell backward while his finger still clenched to the trigger. Renee also noticed another gunman on the second floor tried to flank her from her right. She quickly turned to her right and fired her pistol at the other gunman. The unfortunate gunman took one bullet in his right arm and another one in the head while he was moving.

After inserting a fresh magazine into her Glock 19 pistol, Renee then emerged from her cover and scanned her surroundings. Once she made sure the area was clear she quickly moved to Agent Sarah Ferris' position. Once she was beside Sarah, Renee knelt down to check on Sarah's condition. She noticed that Sarah was wearing a concealed bulletproof vest under her blouse.

_Thank God._ Renee thought.

"Miss Anne...O'Connor I...presume" Sarah said, while winced in pain. At the moment she was still scared, but with Renee's presence, Sarah also felt a bit safer, since Renee killed all of the gunmen who were going to kill Sarah.

"It's OK, nothing went through. Can you get up?" Renee asked, while helping Sarah getting up.

"Yeah...Just give me a minute" With Renee's help, Sarah slowly stood up.

Just as Sarah stood up, bunch of bullets hit the kiosk beside Sarah. Those bullets were fired from other side of the fountain. Across the fountain, Chernov was aiming down at those two women with his MP5k-PDW outfitted with Red dot optic gun sight.

Both Renee and Sarah noticed there was another gunman. Both quickly moved to another kiosk and use it as cover. Renee popped up from the cover and fired at Chernov's direction. Although she was still petrified, Sarah did the same.

Chernov quickly ceased firing, duck down, and took cover by the fountain. Once he was behind the cover he raised his MP5k-PDW submachine gun over his head and blind fired at Renee and Sarah's direction.

As bullets whizzing pass by and hitting the kiosk, Sarah was reloading her pistol. Renee grabbed Sarah by her arm while firing her weapon blindly at the gunman's direction with one hand.

"Come on! We gotta move!" Renee said, while dragging Sarah toward to a door which had the "Employee Only" sign.

Sarah, despite being petrified, did what Renee said. It seemed that if she wanted to survive, she had to trust this Anne O'Connor. While Renee was still grabbing her arm, Sarah started moving with Renee.

After Chernov emptied his magazine, he noticed the bullets stopped flying and those two women were heading towards to the mall's backroom. He pushed the button on his Bluetooth headset and issued orders to his other men.

"Team 1 is down. I repeat. Team 1 is down. Team 2 precedes the backroom area, secure the area and lock it down. I want those bitches found!" Chernov shouted through his Bluetooth headset.

**11:59:57...11:59:58...11:59:59...12:00:00**

* * *

_**Additional Research Note:**_

_**Mozambique Drill: **__A shooting technique based on Mike Rousseau's experience in Rhodesian War. The technique teaches shooter to fire twice into the torso of the target (double tap to center of mass), quickly assesses the hits, and then follows up with a headshot if the target is not incapacitated. Tom Cruise's character in the film 'Collateral' uses this technique throughout the film._

_**Some random reflections:**_

_For me, Chloe is somewhat a hard character to write since it's kinda hard t capture her awkwardness. I hope I got Chloe's character right or somewhat close. As for our favorite redhead, Renee, I don't want her to be too 'Bourne-like' and starts dodging security cameras and personnel on the fly. Basically, Renee is a seasoned FBI agent (According to Larry in S7 and that lady from Justice in S8). Therefore, I gonna assume she knew the FBI protocols and deployment patterns and was able to use those knowledge to evade FBI surveillance at the mall without being discovered. I hope that's acceptable for Renee's character :) _


	6. 12:00PM 1:00PM

_**Author's note:**_

_First, thank you all for the review and support. I really appreciate those. You guys are amazing!_

_Second, since this is 24, so as expected, there will be some forms of torture involved. I will try to make those scene as PG-13/14A as possible. Therefore, I must stress that all of the stuff describe in my story are __**strictly fictitious.**_

_Again, enough with my rambling, let's roll the tape..._

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P_

**The following chapter contains scenes of torture. Reader's discretion is advised.**

* * *

**Previously on 24:**

Jack met up with Chloe and with her help, Jack managed to track down and capture Minister Al-Fulani's killer, Viktor Lovonski. Meanwhile Special Agent Sarah Ferris learned to devastating news about her partner, Scott Riley was killed earlier this morning. Renee Walker called Sarah and asked Sarah to meet her at the mall. Sarah, accompanied by FBI agents, went to the mall to meet Renee. However, a case of a mistake identity resulted in FBI agents getting killed by Russian hitmen lead by Vasili Chernov. Renee was able to rescue Sarah and both women tried to escape from Chernov's men.

**The following takes place between 12:00PM and 1:00PM**

**12:02:34**

**Sunrise Hill Shopping Mall**

After they went through the door with "Employee Only" sign, Renee and Sarah quickly navigated through the dimly lighted and maze-like hallways. Renee had discarded her baseball cap and put away her sunglasses because of the dim fluorescent light. While quickly moving down those hallways, Renee had her gun raised as she checked her corners carefully and efficiently. Sarah followed closely behind Renee. She was still horrified by what just happened minutes ago and her chest was still in pain, but she knew she had to suck it up at the moment. Still holding her Glock 26 pistol with her shaking hands, Sarah nervously watched Renee's flanks as she followed Renee.

Once they reach the door that led to the mall's storage warehouse. Sarah suddenly stopped. With one hand on her chest, she panted then leaned against the wall.

"Wait! I...can't breathe... I have to get this off..." She said as she tried to took off her damaged conceal bulletproof vest under her blouse. Renee walked back to Sarah and helped her.

After Sarah clumsily got her bulletproof vest off and re-buttoned her blouse, she then took out her phone from her pocket. "Let me call for backup..." She said.

Without warnings, Renee snatched Sarah's phone from her hands. Once she had Sarah's phone she turned it off quickly.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing!" Shocked, Sarah protested angrily.

"We have to keep moving. By the time the FBI's backup gets here we might as well be dead. Now come on!" Renee said firmly, while giving Sarah a slight head gesture urging her to continue to move. Part of the reason Renee didn't want Sarah calling FBI was because Renee knew that FBI had been compromised. Those Russians had no way of knowing where the meeting between her and Sarah took place without having a source inside the FBI.

"Look, lady, I have to call my boss and let him know what the hell happened back there, so could you please just give me back my phone!" Sarah said in confusion and anger. A couple minutes ago, she just saw her fellow agents got gun down and she almost got killed. Right now she was scared and perplexed about the entire situation she had found herself in.

"Agent Ferris, I promise that we will discuss this later as soon as we are in the clear. Right now we really need to get moving" Renee said to Sarah firmly. Renee also noticed that Sarah was clearly frightened by what happened earlier, despite Sarah's best effort trying to hide it. "Look, I know this is hard for you, but right now I really need you to stay calm and remember your basic trainings back at Quantico. Can you do that?" Renee said in a calm and non threatening manner. Judging by Sarah's young looks, she thought Sarah probably just got out of the academy and hadn't had much field experience yet. Renee decided to cut her some slacks.

"O...OK." Sarah relented and nodded. After the initial shock from what happened minutes ago started to wear off, Sarah began to think a bit clearly. From the way this Anne O'Connor handled herself back at the fountain, this mysterious woman obviously knew what she was doing. _Who is she? Is she some sort of spy or agent? If so, which agency did she work for? _Sarah wondered. Right now, with those gunmen on their tail, she had no choice but to trust this mysterious woman with her life.

Suddenly, both Renee and Sarah heard footsteps followed by a string of Russian commands. They realized those gunmen were approaching.

"Come on, we really gotta move!" Renee urged.

Both women then entered the mall's storage warehouse. The mall's warehouse was quite small comparing to some of huge industrial warehouses, but it did provided ample space for inventory storage for one of mall's department store chain. The warehouse could be divided into two main areas: storage and loading. The storage area was occupied by rows of storage racks filled with boxes. There were also boxes scattered on the aisles between storage racks. Despite the fact that they seemed to be scattered across the aisle, those boxes were stacked neatly against storage racks on the both side of the aisle, so the aisle was still accessible. The placement of storage racks and those scattered boxes made the storage area looked like a complex maze system, despite all of them being neatly aligned and organized. Beyond the storage area was the loading area of the warehouse. There were some unevenly stacked boxes in the loading area. The exit was beside the loading bay's industrial doors. Renee and Sarah decided to head straight for the exit through both the storage and the loading area.

Vasili Chernov arrived at the door that led to the mall's storage warehouse. He noticed that only way those women could get out of the mall was through the warehouse. He pressed his Bluetooth headset again.

"Team 2, are you at the storage warehouse?"

"_da_. We are just arrived at the loading bay." One of Chernov's men answered through his Bluetooth headset.

"Those bitches are in the storage warehouse, lock down the area and hunt them down!"

"Acknowledged, Captain."

Inside the storage area of the warehouse, as Renee and Sarah moved down one of the aisles between storage racks, they had their guns raised and carefully checked their corners. There were also a few boxes on both side of the aisle. Suddenly, they both heard men shouting commands in Russian from the loading area of the warehouse. From those voices Renee figured there were at least six of Russians. Both women quickly ducked and moved to their right. They hid behind a batch of stacked boxes which were stacked against the storage rack on their left.

_Crap._ Renee thought.

"So what do we do now?" Sarah asked Renee in a low voice.

Renee pondered their situation for a very brief moment. _Those Russians needed to split up to cover the entire warehouse. We might be able to sneak pass them._ Renee thought. "There are simply too many of them. We gonna have to sneak our way pass them." Renee answered her in low voice as well.

"What if they spotted us?" Sarah asked. Her voice still indicated that she was on the verge of panicking.

"Then we might have to shoot our way out. Just try to stay low and follow me and you'll be fine. You ready?" Renee said. She knew that in this type of situation things often went hairy in an instant, like the time she sneaked onto General Juma's boat and being discovered by Dubaku Jr. However, she would like to give the young agent some form of assurance that they can make it through, so that the young agent will not panic.

Sarah nodded. Although she really wanted to protest about the 'shoot our way out' part but she decided to keep her mouth shut for the moment. She thought this mysterious woman knew what she was doing, so it might be best not to argue with her on some details.

In the loading area of the storage warehouse, six Russian operatives were sweeping the area after they stormed into the place. With their weapons raised, they carefully checked their responsible area and corners. Some of them were carrying H&K UMP 45 submachine guns outfitted with open reflex sights and foregrips. Some of them were carrying Mossberg 590 Cruiser shotguns. The lead operative started shouting commands in Russian again. He ordered two of his men to start sweeping the storage area from the left, and two others to start sweeping the storage area from the right. After the lead operative ordered the last man to guard the warehouse exit, he moved to the storage area and started climbing onto the top of a storage rack in the storage area to get a better vantage view.

Once Renee checked her corners to make sure the coast was clear, she and Sarah got out of their cover and move as silently possible through the aisle. As they moved, they noticed there were movement on their left. Those movements seemed to be on the opposite side of the storage rack. Renee quickly signalled Sarah to stop and stay low. Sarah complied. While Sarah leaned against the storage rack, Renee was able to take a quick peek through the slim space between boxes on the storage rack to their right. She saw a gunman holding an UMP 45 submachine gun constantly scanned for possible targets, and one gunman with a shotgun covering his partner's flanks. Fortunately, both gunmen didn't seem to notice that their targets were on their opposite side of the rack beside them. The hunters and the preys were separated by a long storage rack filed bunch of cardboard boxes.

At the moment, Sarah thought the entire situation was nerve-wracking. As much as she tried to calm herself down, her hands were still trembling like jelly. She remembered that on her very first field op. At the time she was nervous as a hell. Scott managed to calm her down by repeatedly telling her that she's gonna be fine. Right now in her mind, she kept telling herself the same thing repeatedly hoping to calm herself down.

Suddenly, the gunman with the shotgun stopped, he leaned forward to the storage rack and wanted to inspect what was on opposite side of the storage rack. He thought he saw something beyond those cardboard boxes on the storage rack. Just as he was about to discover Renee and Sarah's position, his partner, who was couple steps in front of him, called him and told him to keep up with him. The gunman with the shotgun complied. They moved away from Renee and Sarah's position.

Once Renee heard the footstep of both gunmen moving away from them, she moved forward to the end of the storage rack slowly and silently. She then gestured Sarah to follow her. Sarah complied and followed Renee closely. So far they were doing great. Those gunmen haven't discovered them yet, and they could see the exit far ahead, just beyond the loading area. Once both women reached the end of the storage rack, Renee came to a stop. She carefully took a peek in both left and right corner to check to see if the area was clear or not.

Standing on top of another storage rack, the lead Russian operative was scanning for signs of both women. Suddenly, he saw moving silhouettes three storage racks down from his position. At the moment he was sure those moving silhouettes were those women since he had been keeping track of his men's position. He shouted out a string of commands in Russian into his Bluetooth headset, and signalled his men to converge on that location. Without hesitation, he aimed down his UMP 45 submachine gun at the direction of those silhouettes and fired.

Without knowing that they had been spotted, Renee and Sarah prepared to move into the loading area of the warehouse. Just as they began to move, a hail of bullets whizzing over their heads, hitting the cardboard boxes on top of the storage rack. Millions of cardboard debris exploded outward due to bullet impacts.

Instinctively, Renee and Sarah both ducked down and fell back. There was a batch of stacked box on the right side aisle behind them. Suddenly, Renee caught a glimpse of a figure beyond those boxes. That figure seemed to be on the other end of the aisle. Without hesitation, she turned around to that direction and fired her pistol, killing the gunman instantly. Sarah froze for a brief moment before snapping back to the reality. She also turned around and saw there was a second gunman besides the first one. She began firing her pistol at the second gunman and providing covering fire while Renee retreated behind stacked boxes.

The gunman holding an UMP 45 submachine gun went down before he could even pull the trigger. His partner noticed that and quickly retreated behind the storage rack as the blonde woman began firing at his direction. Once the bullets stopped whizzing pass by him, the gunman quickly popped out his cover and fired his shotgun at Renee and Sarah's direction. But at the time both women had already docked behind a wooden crate so his shotgun pellets only hit the crate, sending millions of debris flying. He pumped his shotgun handle to eject the spent shell and continued firing.

Meanwhile, Chernov had already entered the warehouse. Still had his MP5k-PDW risen, he quickly got the women's location from Team 2's lead operative via his Bluetooth headset. He was glad his men had those women pinned down. He quickly moved through the aisles on his left, hoping to get to the loading area so that he could flank those women from their side.

Hiding behind stacked boxes, Sarah gave Renee a 'Now what?' look as they were pinned down in both directions. They were in a real pickle right now. Renee ignored Sarah's look and tried to think of a way they could get out of this mess. An idea came to her as she saw the water sprinklers installed on the roof of the warehouse.

"We gonna have to make a run for the exit. Just follow me and shoot what I shoot at. We'll move on my mark. You ready?" Renee said.

"What? Are you n...?" Sarah was absolutely dumfounded by what Renee said. _Make a run for the exit? That was the genius escape plan? This woman is just nuts. _Sarah thought.

Before Sarah could finish her sentence, Renee noticed gunman holding a shotgun just ran out of ammo. She quickly popped out from the cover and fired at him before he got a chance to retreat behind his cover, killing him instantly. After that, Renee quickly turned around, took aim at those water sprinklers near the gunmen on top, and then shot them one by one. She couldn't get a clear shot at the gunman standing on top, because boxes on top of near storage racks obstructed her view. However, she did have clear shots at those water sprinklers near the gunman. Those water sprinklers began spraying water as if there was a fire inside the warehouse.

"Go!" Renee said, and then she ran toward to the loading area while firing her weapon at the direction of the gunman who was standing on top of the storage rack. Sarah followed close behind Renee and also did the same.

The lead Russian operative standing on top of the rack was distracted by the raining water from the warehouse's water sprinklers on top of him. The continuous spray of water obstructed his view. As a result, he just pulled the trigger and fired his submachine gun blindly at the direction he thought those women would be in. However, he hit nothing but cardboard boxes. Before he had a chance of aiming at those women again, the stray shots from both Renee and Sarah hit him in the legs. Losing his balance, he fell all the way down to the floor from the storage rack, head first.

Upon arriving at the loading area, Renee quickly moved behind stacked boxes to their right. Sarah followed suit. Suddenly, another hail of bullets hit their cover and debris flew everywhere. While behind the cover, Renee and Sarah quickly reloaded their respective weapons. After reloading their weapons, Renee told Sarah that they had to use those cardboard boxes as cover and make a run for the exit. Sarah, almost panicking, had no choice but to nod.

After Chernov and the other two gunmen arrived at the loading area from the left of the storage warehouse, they saw those two women went behind those boxes so they fired their weapons at them. However, they only hit those boxes. After they ceased firing, Chernov ordered one of his operative who had a shotgun to attack those women's left flank and the operative who was guarding the exit to attack those women's right flank.

Renee and Sarah noticed a gunman just entered the loading area from the exit, she told Sarah to head for the exit while she lays down cover fire for her. Sarah nodded and then both women popped out from their cover. They were both moving and firing their weapons at the same time. Sarah shot the gunman who was guarding the exit and then ran toward the exit. Renee pretty much sprayed at Chernov's direction while moving toward the exit.

Chernov and the gunman beside him returned fire with their respective automatic weapons. However, because their targets moving that behind those unevenly stacked up boxes, they weren't able to hit those targets.

Renee and Sarah quickly ran out of the exit and into the outside loading bay, and then they turned to their right and quickly ran toward to the streets. While running in full speed, Renee turned around and fired her gun at the warehouse exit until her gun ran out of ammo. That way those Russians will have to stop and wait until the bullets stopped flying.

Chernov and his gunmen moved to the exit door. However, a hail of bullets hit the exit door, forcing Chernov and his gunmen to temporary stay back. Once the bullets stopped flying, they quickly stormed out of the warehouse, only to find their targets were long gone. Chernov angrily let out a long string of profanities in Russian at his men. _That bitch was no temp!_ He thought angrily.

After they reached the road, Renee turned around to Sarah and asked.

"Do you still have your badge?"

"Yeah... Why?" Sarah holstered her weapon and then took out her badge.

Just as Sarah finished her sentence, Renee moved in front of an incoming sedan and raised her gun at the driver. The sedan came to a sudden stop in front of her.

"Get out of the car now!" Renee shouted while had her gun pointed at the driver.

Realizing what Renee was doing, Sarah quickly held up her FBI badge. "Federal Agent! We are commandeering your vehicle!" Sarah said to the scared driver.

The horrified driver quickly got out of the sedan and jetted from the scene. Renee got into the driver's seat and Sarah got into the passenger seat, then they drove away from the mall in full speed.

**12:16:49**

**The Cossack, West Hollywood**

Inside the cabaret club, once Jack finished talking to Chloe over the phone, he walked to Lovonski. Chloe had already run Lovonski's face through the facial recognition database when she had Lovonski's picture from traffic camera, but she found no match in the database. Jack thought this Russian must had been smuggled into the US.

A beaten up Viktor Lovonski was tied to a chair with zip ties. Clearly, Jack had given him a beating before he tied him to a chair. Jack had zip tied both Lovonski's hands separately to the back of the chair. He also tied both Lovonski's feet separately to the leg of the chair. Lovonski, on the other hand, struggled to break free while staring at Jack in full anger.

"You know who I am?" Jack asked.

Lovonski remained silent, only giving Jack a defiant stare. He only knew Jack Bauer by reputation and intelligence files. Kirilenko was kindly enough to send him what Russian intelligence had on Jack Bauer right after he fled the scene from Al-Fulani's assassination.

"I think you already know who I am, and what I did 18 months ago. Then you probably know my reputation. Right now you can save yourself some pain by telling me about Kirilenko's operation or it's gonna be very unpleasant for you" Jack said, without showing any emotion.

Lovonski just gave Jack a slight chuckle, and then he let out a string of profanities in Russian.

Suddenly, Jack's right fist struck Lovonski's face like a battering ram, nearly knocking Lovonski to the ground. Lovonski spitted out a gob of blood, and then he stared at Jack in defiantly. Upon seeing this, Jack clenched his right hand around Lovonski's throat, choking Lovonski. Jack got close to Lovonski's face, staring right back at him angrily.

"I'm not playing, so let me ask you one more time. What do you know about Kirilenko's operation?" Jack coldly said that face to face to Lovonski.

Despite being choked by Jack, Lovonski still remain defiant. He managed to squeeze out his remaining saliva and blood in his mouth and spitted on Jack's face.

Unfazed by this, Jack released his grip from Lovonski's throat. He simply walked to the bar counter and picked up a wet towel. Once he walked back to Lovonski, he draped the towel over Lovonski's head. Jack quickly took out a Taser from his messenger bag. Before Lovonski could shake the towel off his head, he then pressed the two charge electrodes against the wet towel, right around the area where Lovonski's right cheek was. Jack pulled the trigger and held it. The electric charge from the Taser spread out through the wet towel.

As electric charge crackled, Lovonski screamed in pain. Right now it felt like his entire face was being lighted up and burned by electric charges traveling through the towel. His body went rigid for a very brief moment and then started convulsing.

After a short while, Jack released the trigger and removed the towel from Lovonski's head. Lovonski's head slowly wobbled as he was still disoriented from the electrical shock. His face was twisted due to the intense pain.

"I gonna ask you one more time. What do you know about Kirilenko's operation?" Jack raised his voice at Lovonski.

All Jack got was bunch of insults in Russian. Jack draped the towel over Lovonski's head again and pressed the Taser against the general area of Lovonski's left face. He pulled the trigger, but this time he held the trigger a bit longer as Lovonski's muffled scream continued.

**12:35:01**

**The White House Video Conference Room**

President Hayworth and his chief of the staff, Derek Watts, were sitting at the half oval conference table. In front of the table were three huge monitors with Cisco logo displayed on screen. Derek Watts served as the former Vice President's chief of staff ever since Allison Taylor and Mitchell Hayworth got elected. Now as Hayworth succeeded Allison Taylor, it was natural that Hayworth appointed Watts as his chief of staff.

Once President Hayworth's secretary told him that the video uplink was ready, IRK President Dalia Hassan and two other IRK ministers appeared on the giant screens.

"Mr, President, I believe you have some explanation on why my foreign minister was assassinated?" Dalia Hassan asked. Truth to be told, she already knew that Hayworth was going to sell her down the river in order to appease the Russians. She had always wondered why Allison Taylor had chose Hayworth as her Vice President, especially now Hayworth was more worried about appeasing the Russians as oppose to getting to the truth about what happened 18 months ago and what happened three weeks prior. She hid her disgust and tried to appear professional.

"Madam President, right now we have already identified the suspect. The suspect is a former CTU agent named Jack Bauer. He was spotted by CTU drone in the building near the Hilbert Grand Hotel. I assure you that we already dedicated our full resources to bring him in." President Hayworth said.

"Jack Bauer?" Dalia Hassan was surprised." I refuse to believe that. 18 months ago, he and one of other agents saved my family from your renegade military personnel during the UN evacuation. They also tried to save my husband from those extremist. Now you are trying to tell me he is the one who killed Minister Al-Fulani?" Dalia asked. As of now she was probably one of very few people who were grateful for Jack Bauer's actions 18 months ago, even though she was still angry about her husband's death.

"Madam President. This is President Hayworth's chief of staff, Derek Watts. If I may" Derek said "According to our report, 18 months ago, after his one of his friends was killed during the course of that day, Jack Bauer has become an extremely delusional man due to grief. He blamed the Russians for his friend's murder and he murdered the Russian foreign minister because of it. Now, we think it's possible that he also blames your government for that as well. With the delusional fantasy like that, he could have the motive to kill Minister Al-Fulani" Watts tried to spin the facts in favor of President's argument.

"Mr. Watts, I believe you're speculating. If Jack Bauer really blames my government for his friend's death, he would try to kill me along side of Russian President 18 months ago. Besides, you may think the Russians had nothing to do with my husband's murder because UN's investigations came up empty. Do I have to remind you that President Taylor was the one confessed to me about the Russian cover up?" Dalia said angrily.

"Madam President. We know you are still angry at the Russians for your husband's murder. Regardless of whether or not it's true, the Russians have the upper hand because your intelligence agents' actions in Moscow three weeks ago. Right now the Russians are amassing their forces near your border. However, we might have a way to get them to back down without getting you to resign. You see, Madam President. Ever since Jack Bauer murdered their foreign minister, the Russians really want his head on a silver platter. If we can capture Jack Bauer, then we can use him to bargain with the Russians. That way you don't have to step down and Russians will be happy." President Hayworth said, like a car salesman trying to close a deal.

"Even if you captured Jack Bauer and use him as leverage, you cannot guarantee the Russians will back down, since it is simply a backroom deal you're making with the Russians, hence it will not be officially acknowledged. They could take Jack Bauer and still invade my country without any consequences." Dalia Hassan said. She was absolutely disgusted by President Hayworth's proposition. Trading an honourable man like Bauer for political purpose reminded her of what happened to her husband 18 months ago.

"Look, Madam President, nothing is certain. At worst, we give them Bauer for free as a good will. The move doesn't cost your country and my country a thing. Once the Russians become more agreeable we can easily negotiated a solution that favours both IRK and Russia. Secretary of the State Ross is currently negotiating with his Russian counterpart as we speak. I'm very confidence that it will work out in our favour." Hayworth said.

"I hope I share your optimism, Mr. President. Now excuse me, I have to attend another meeting with my generals." Dalia said, and then the screen switched to the Cisco logo again.

"I think she'll come around, once she realizes giving Jack Bauer to Russians is the best way to go." Watts tried to assure President Hayworth that the Secretary of the State, Kevin Ross' plan will work.

"Let's hope so, Derek. Let's hope so." President Hayworth said. He pondered about Allison Taylor. _I still can't believe that bitch left me such a huge mess to clean. She withdrew from the treaty, that's fine, but why the hell she had to provoke the Russians with those allegations publicly? She didn't know that sometimes something is better to deal things under the table so both sides would save faces? Instead she blew the whole thing wide open and our relation with the Russians took a nose dive. Fortunately the rumor about her not in her state of mind came out otherwise I wouldn't know how to downplay this mess and re-start the dialog with the Russians… Come to think of it, crisis often means opportunity. If I managed to defuse the situation like I handed the mess Taylor had left me 18 months ago, my political career would be even more prestigious. Now I just have to keep my eyes on the ball. _Upon thinking about furthering his own political career, President Hayworth grinned.

**12:40:38**

**FBI LA Field Office**

Kristin Gordon walked into Hoffman's office with her laptop. As she arrived at the door, she could hear Hoffman shouting "Damn it! How the hell did it happen?" loudly. She knocked and Hoffman told her to come in. Once she came into Hoffman's office, she saw Raymond Parker, the analyst who was assigned to Agent McBride on the O'Connor case, sat across Hoffman. The young analyst looked upset. Hoffman, at the moment, was clearly upset, too.

"What's wrong?" Kristin asked.

"There was a shootout at Sunrise Hill shopping mall. Three agents, including Agent McBride, were dead, and one agent is missing. I've already sent our SWAT to the scene." Hoffman said, while rubbing his forehead with his right hand"

"What? How did it happen?" Kristin asked.

"It's all happened pretty fast. Apparently Agent Ferris mistakenly ID's an older woman as Anne O'Connor. Next thing we know, the hit men appeared out of nowhere and started shooting." Parker said in disbelief, while streaming the surveillance feed onto the LCD TV inside Hoffman's office. "As you can see, a woman wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses also came out of nowhere and engaged in a shootout with those hit men. Then she apparently kidnapped Agent Ferris." Parker pointed the figure on the feed.

"This Anne O'Connor character has already gotten four of my agents killed and now she also kidnapped one of the agents. Whoever this woman is, she is no temp!" Hoffman said angrily, and then he paused for a moment. "Right now we are already stretched thin. There's report that Bauer was spotted in West Hollywood. CTU and LAPD are already en-route there. I'm supposed to chopper out a team there in 15 minutes... Damn it!"

"Sir, I might have something related to that case. I already pulled the case file Agent Ferris pulled this morning. Agent Ferris is right. The name Kirilenko did appear in the case report but it is tangential. The case was about an undercover op against a Russian arm smuggling ring in New York. The report mentioned the undercover agent in that case tried to get more info on this Kirilenko guy by persuading the target of the investigation, Vladimir Laitanan, to get into business with Kirilenko. However, that didn't work out, so the agent could not pursuit it further..." Kristin said.

"So is it possible that Anne O'Connor could be related to this Vladimir Laitanan or Kirilenko?" Hoffman asked.

"I don't know. The name Anne O'Connor was not found in the report." Kristin answered. "Now, sir, some of the stuff in that report was actually above my pay grade. I was thinking maybe you can access the more completed version of that report so that we can get more complete picture. Maybe we'll find the connection between all of these."

"How about I give you my authorization code so you can access the more complete version of the report? I already put an urgent request to our field offices in California, and they should be sending more people to help us out soon. Kristin, once you have something send it to me and Parker. I'll assign another lead agent on this O'Connor case as well and I want you two to get that lead agent up to speed. Understood?" Hoffman said while standing up and getting his blue FBI field jacket from his coat rack.

"Understood." Both Kristin Gordon and Raymond Parker said.

**12:45:32**

After driving away from Sunrise Hill Shopping Mall, Renee and Sarah hasn't spoke to each other for a while. There was an awkward silence inside the car. Sarah simply froze. She was clearly shaken up by what had happened in the mall. Renee, on other hand, decided to give Sarah sometime to calm herself down while she devised her next course of action.

"You alright?" Renee asked.

Sarah sat in silence in the passenger seat. She remained shaken up.

"Just relax take a deep breath" Renee said to Sarah.

After taken a couple of deep breathes, Sarah felt a bit calmer. "Can I have my phone back? I would like to call my boss..." She asked.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"Look, Ms. O'Connor. I'm really grateful for what you did back there, but with all due respect, I have orders to bring you to the FBI, so can you please just give me the phone..." Sarah pleaded.

"Agent Ferris, I'm really sorry, but right now, the FBI has been compromised. You don't know who you can trust..."

Sarah shot Renee a 'You gotta be kidding me!' look. At the moment, a thought came across her mind that this Anne O'Connor was probably some paranoid and delusional nut job. "Nice try, lady. I heard that one before. Now give me back my phone or..." Sarah demanded angrily. Sarah was still scared, and she desperately wanted to feel safe. She thought surrounding herself with SWAT or other agents inside the FBI field office could make her feel safer somehow.

Suddenly, Renee pulled over and turned around to Sarah. "You saw what they did to that poor woman who they mistakenly ID'ed as me. Those Russians were waiting to see if you were able to ID me first before they make their move." Renee said. As much as she tried to hide it, the guilt was eating her inside. _Too many innocent people had died because of me. Not to mention Jack...who was on the run also because of me. _She thought. However, she knew she had to suck it up. Right now, there were too many questions and not enough answers. She needed to find more answers, and maybe, just maybe, one of those answers held to the key to proving the Russians were complicit in President Omar Hassan's assassination, dirty bomb attack in Manhattan, and nerve gas attack in Moscow. If that was the case, maybe she could save Jack before he got himself killed in some far way places...

"The only way they know about our meeting is that someone from your office leaked the info to them." Renee continued, and then she paused for a brief moment. "... Look, Agent Ferris, I know it's all too much for you to take in right now, and you probably feel scared... but I want you to know that you can trust me." Renee remembered that after she was resuscitated by Bill Buchanan and Chloe O'Brian, she was also being told that she couldn't contact FBI or Larry. Even though at that time she knew there were moles insides FBI due to Emerson's conversation, it was still a lot to take in, especially after being buried alive.

Sara pondered for a moment. Although she still had trouble believing that FBI had been compromised, she thought that lady's deduction was probably correct. Otherwise how else did those Russians know about the meeting? The more Sarah thought about it the ugly truth started to sink in, and it terrified her even more.

"Trust you? I don't even know who you are!" Sarah asked angrily. She was nearly hysterical. "You are definitely not a temp... Who the hell are you?"

_I guess it's no harm telling her the truth. Judging by how scared she is at the moment she's probably a probie who just graduated from Academy recently. Therefore, she is not a mole._ Renee thought. "My name is not Anne O'Connor. It's Renee Walker. I used to be an FBI agent..."

**12:50:56**

**The Cossack, West Hollywood**

After several rounds of wet towel and Taser, Lovonski still remain defiant. Jack had figured that the Russian was probably former GRU operative since Kirilenko was a former GRU colonel. Therefore, he would not be easy to break. Jack thought he would have to go to extreme length in order to make the Russian in front of him talk.

Once he removed the towel over Lovonski's head, Jack tore open Lovonski's shirt. What Jack saw angered him further. Lovonski had the Russia mob tattoos, just like Pavel Tokerav, the man who had murdered Renee 18 months ago. With the immeasurable anger building up inside him, Jack didn't notice a photo had dropped to the floor while he was ripping open Lovonski's shirt. He took out his Microtech HALO knife. He rinsed the knife with a bottle of vodka he found on the bar counter. He then took out a lighter and ran knife pass the flame repeatedly.

Lovonski remained silent and defiant. Although he was still disoriented from electrical shock, he could already guess what Jack was trying to do next. He was confident that he could endure it. Lovonski thought anything this guy can put him through is probably no worse then what he went through while serving in Russian's military.

Without warning, Jack started inflicting a single cut across Lovonski's chest. The cut was not too deep so no vital organs were damaged, but the burning heat from the blade cauterized the cut in process, creating intense pain for Lovonski. Lovonski screamed from the pain.

After making one single cut, Jack ran the knife through the flame again. Jack then grabbed Lovonski by his throat with his left hand. He pointed the knife at Lovonski's left eye. "You better start talking soon or I will jam this knife into your left eye. The knife will penetrate through your lens and the heat will not only cauterize the wound, it will also boil your eye fluid. Once your eye fluid reaches the boil point your eyeball will literally exploded. Then I gonna move on to your right eye if I don't get anything from you... Tell me about Kirilenko's operation!" Jack spoke in a low gravelly voice, and then he started to move the knife closer to Lovonski's left eye. However, just at this moment, he caught a glimpse of a photo on the floor, near Lovonski's tied left foot. Jack lose his grip on Lovonski's throat moved the burning hot knife away. He picked the photo up from the floor. It was a photo of a woman with a young boy, and they were both smiling happily in this picture.

_That was probably his family._ Jack thought. Pictures, especially family photos, were dangerous for operatives to carry around. However, some did regardless because some found that staying sane required something to remind them why they were doing what they were doing. Suddenly, Jack had the leverage to make this Russian talk. He held the photo in front of Lovonski.

"This is your family, right? You know, 18 months ago, Kirilenko was part of the Russian cabal that killed one of my friends... Actually, she was more than a friend. I consider her to be my family... Therefore, what you should know is that I had no problem taking out yours." Jack said coldly, despite the fact that he tried to hide his sorrow and guilt about Renee's death. One thing he could not hide was his anger. He hated the people who took Renee away from him, and he hated himself for not being able to protect the woman he loved.

"Right now, I think you are stalling so that by the time I break you, Kirilenko would be on his way back to Moscow and any information I got off you will become outdated and useless. What you don't know is that if that happened, I'm gonna killed you, then I'm gonna go to Moscow to kill Kirilenko. However, when I arrived in Moscow, I'm gonna take a detour. I'm gonna track both your wife and your kid down, and I'm gonna make sure they die a slow, agonizing death... Tell me about Kirilenko's operation in US and I'll leave your family alone." Jack continued. Despite not showing any emotion on his face, one could still see the flashes of Jack's anger

At the moment, Lovonski was actually terrified about what's gonna happened to his wife and child if this lunatic in front of him managed to get his hand on them. Fear started to display on his face, and he tried very hard to hide it. _Maybe he is just bluffing, but what if he's not. _Lovonski thought. He couldn't take the 50/50 chance when it came to his family.

"Fine." Upon seeing Lovonski remain in silence, Jack simply pushed Lovonski and caused him to fall backward with his chair. Once Lovonski was lying on his back, Jack took out his USP Compact pistol and prepared to execute Lovonski.

"Valentin Polyakov!" Lovonski shouted desperately.

"Who is Valentin Polyakov?" Jack shouted, while his gun still pointed at Lovonski.

"He is my next target. Kirilenko always keep his operations compartmentalized. We never know the big picture. I don't know why Kirilenko wants him dead! I swear!"

"Where can I find him?"

"I don't know where he is. I was tasked to track him down and eliminate him..."

Jack holstered his pistol and walked away from Lovonski. He then dialled Chloe's number as he walked toward the swing door that led to the backroom area of the club.

"Chloe. It's Jack. I just got a name from Al-Fulani's shooter. Valentin Polyakov. I need you run a check on him and find out his location..."

Suddenly, the swing door exploded. The shockwave from the breaching charge explosion knocked Jack down on the ground. Before Jack could realize what was going on, a bunch of heavily armed men stormed into the cabaret club. Those men were wearing balaclavas and tactical vests magazine pouches attached. They held their G36C assault rifles outfitted with reflex sights and began to clear the room. Jack, still disoriented from the explosion, tried to get up but quickly got knocked down by a stock of G36C assault rifle. One of the gunmen also took Jack's weapon away while he was down. Another gunman began to free Lovonski from the chair he was tied to.

"Jack? Jack? What is going on? " Chloe asked desperately, but all she heard was men shouting in Russian. A couple of seconds later the line went dead.

Once the room was clear, one of the gunmen aimed his assault rifle at Jack, prepare to execute him while he was down.

"Stop!" Lovonski shouted as he was being freed from the zip ties. "We need to find out who is he working for. Prepare him for interrogation!" That was part of the reasons Lovonski didn't order to have Jack killed, despite the fact he really wanted to put a bullet between Jack's eye. Lovonski thought that if Jack was killed by his men, there will be investigation on who killed him, which could potentially lead back to them and Kirilenko, hence jeopardize what they accomplished three weeks ago in Moscow. He needed to think about how he was going to proceed from this point...

"_da_, Lieutenant Lovonski."

While Jack was still down, Lovonski kicked Jack in the chest a couple of time and then spitted on Jack. Jack, on the other hand, stared at Lovonski in an intense anger and hatred.

**12:59:57...12:59:58...12:59:59...01:00:00**

* * *

_**Some Random Reflection:**_

_**Interaction between Renee and Sarah:**__ Well, originally, Renee's attitude towards Sarah was more along the line of 'You're still conscious because I don't want to carry you'. (LOL). However, I found that a bit way too similar to Jack. Despite Renee is the female version of Jack (more or less), that's still a bit too thick in my opinion. Therefore, I rewrote the interactions so that Renee is a bit nicer to Sarah. It was somewhat based on how she told Janis to calm down in the very first episode of season 7. I hope that's acceptable with her character. _

_**Warehouse battle:**__ Originally I didn't really plan on having a fully fledged gunfight scene, but I ended up writing it anyway. I kinda have a presumption that Renee is able to think on her feet when she is in danger. In episode 12 of season 7, she tried to distract Dubaku Jr. long enough so she could grab the shovel nearby. Therefore, Renee's able to come up with the idea of using water sprinkler as distraction should not be too farfetched. _

_**Sarah Ferris:**__ I want Sarah to be scared, but not to be completely helpless (Despite being a newbie, she's still an FBI agent after all). I hope I didn't go too far. (LOL)_

_**Hayworth's chief of staff:**__ Derek Watts is not an original character. In season 7 he was also Hayworth's chief of staff._

_**Jack torturing Lovonski:**__ I'll admit that I used some 'interrogation methods' from various movies and novels as references when I wrote this since it's very hard to come up with ways on how Jack would torture someone. Again, I really hope it's not too graphic. I hope I didn't cross the line or offended anyone. If so, I apologize since it's not my intension to do so._


	7. 1:00PM 2:00PM

_**Author's Notes:**_

_Thank you guys for the great reviews and support! I really enjoy writing the story and I just want to say you guys rock!_

_Now here comes the slightly bad news: Future chapters are gonna come slower than usual because I'm currently swarmed by life obligations and a few writers blocks here and there (*facepalm*). Therefore, I apologize for the slower update in the future..._

_Now enough with my rambling, let's roll the tape!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P_

**The following chapter contains scenes of torture. Reader's discretion is advised.**

* * *

**Previously on 24:**

Despite being cornered, Renee Walker and Special Agent Sarah Ferris was able to escape from Chernov's men. Jack Bauer, meanwhile, tortured Minister Al-Fulani's shooter, Viktor Lovonski in order to find about more about Kirilenko's operation. Lovonski gave Jack a name: Valentin Polyakov. However, an armed assault team rescued Lovonski and captured Jack.

**The following takes place between 1:00PM and 2:00PM**

**1:02:10**

At first, Sarah was still skeptical about this mysterious lady's claim that she used to be an FBI agent. Therefore, she asked Renee to prove it. Renee then told Sarah some of more specialized protocols only FBI agents would have knowledge of. However, Sarah was still not completely convinced.

"You said you 'used' to be an FBI agent, what happened?" Sarah asked.

"I resigned over an internal dispute." Renee gave Sarah the FBI's official explanation over her firing. It was a private matter for her and she didn't want to talk about it with strangers like Sarah, let along giving Sarah the truth about what exactly went down in that interrogation room about three years ago.

"Internal dispute? Over what?" Sarah pressed on with her questioning. At the moment, Renee's statement raised a giant red flag in Sarah's mind. She could already guess that whatever the so called 'Internal dispute' was about, it was definitely not good. She wanted to know more.

Renee's face became somber. It was from that day, everything went downhill for her. The memories of seeing Jack's health decaying, Wilson's smug face, getting grilled by the Justice Department, the depression, and her suicide attempt all flooded back into her mind. Renee tried her best to hide it and pretend those memories didn't bother her, but those memories were still too much for her to handle.

"It was personal, alright!" Renee turned around raised her voice slightly at Sarah. She didn't want to relive those pains again by retelling those memories.

At first, Sarah was startled by Renee's sudden outburst. However, Sarah didn't want to back down. Judging by Renee's outburst, Sarah figured she was right. Renee was definitely hiding something. It must be something serious. Just as she was about to ask more question about this matter, suddenly, she caught a glimpse of the scars on Renee's right wrist, and by the looks of it, they were not recent. Sarah took a guess that maybe those suicide scars are related to the 'internal dispute'. She thought regardless of whether they are related or not, those things must be extremely personal for her. At the moment, Sarah felt like a bitch. She decided not to press Renee further with personal questions.

Renee realized that she startled Sarah with her sudden outburst. "Sorry." She lowered her voice and apologized awkwardly.

"Umm...It's alright." Sarah said. After a moment of awkward silence, Sarah decided to ask the important question. "Over the phone, you said you spoke with Scott... un... Agent Riley, before he was killed..." Sarah tried to remain professional. She remembered that after Scott asked her to cover for him, she teased Scott about getting her front row seat for Iron Weasel concert, and then couple of hours later he was dead. She also tried to hide the pain she was feeling upon realizing that Scott was really gone. She had to muster all her strength to continue. "What exactly did you and Agent Riley discuss about?"

"Agent Riley was looking into a Russian named Nicholai Kirilenko. He thought Kirilenko might be involved in the nerve gas attack in Moscow three weeks ago, and possibly, the terrorist attacks in New York 18 months ago."

Sarah gave Renee an 'Are you serious?' look. She honestly thought what Renee had just said was some whacked out conspiracy theory_. Is it possible that this Renee Walker was fired because she was some whack job who spent time chasing conspiracy theories?_ Sarah thought. However, at the same time, she thought about Scott's hutches. _Scott always had great hutches when it comes to cracking cases and finding leads. He wouldn't chase some random conspiracy theory._ Therefore, Sarah decided to approach this cautiously with a healthy dose of skepticism. "OK... so how did you know that?" Sarah asked.

"I spent 16 months undercover inside a New York based Russian arm smuggling ring about 7 years ago. One day, a middle man contacted my target of the undercover operation, Vladimir Laitanan." Renee's face darkened after she said that. She bit her lip and paused for a brief moment. Memories of Vladimir Laitanan still haunted her, despite the fact that he was dead. She still had nightmares about what he did to her during both times she was under.

"He wanted Laitanan to introduce him to some of Laitanan's contacts for an unspecified business opportunity. I thought the middle man was working for another mysterious Russian syndicate named 'Red Square', which the FBI also tried to prove its existence. In order to find more information, I managed to persuade Laitanan to find out who was behind the middle man by stating that he could make more money if he cuts out the middle man. Laitanan later found out it was a GRU Colonel named Nicholai Kirilenko, and he was trying to sell a variant of VX nerve gas nicknamed 'Silent Night'. Before I was able to get more solid proof on this, Kirilenko killed the middle man and threatened to kill Laitanan as well...except that sons of bitch Laitanan managed to wiggle his way out of that." Renee said bitterly.

"So how does this relate to the nerve gas attack in Moscow three weeks ago?"

"From what I heard from Laitanan, Kirilenko was running a chemical weapon facility which produced the 'Silent Night' in Kazakhstan. Agent Riley told me that according to his informant in New York, the nerve gas used in that attack was indeed 'Silent Night'. He also said that information was not public knowledge."

"OK..." Just as Sarah wanted to get more information out of Renee, suddenly it hit her. "Russian weapon smuggling ring in New York, Vladimir Laitanan, and the Red Square..." Sarah muttered. "Oh my God! You are that undercover agent in that case report I pulled earlier this morning!" Sarah said while her eyes widened. She was shocked and surprised. At the moment she felt that Renee's claim about being an FBI agent was indeed valid. "So you really were an FBI agent!"

"Yes..."

Sarah was absolute amazed by Renee's revelation. At the same time, she became a little more sympathetic to Renee as well. From what she heard, the Russian mob was infamous for their secrecy and ruthlessness, especially the latter. Sarah thought in order to get in deep into the Russian mob, Renee probably had done some unspeakable things and possibly, some unspeakable things were probably done to her as well. Therefore, to go through that kind of experience was definitely traumatizing. Suddenly, another question popped in Sarah's mind.

"But in CTU's follow up report for that case, the undercover agent is listed as 'deceased'...and right now you are alive, so I'm guessing witness protection, hence the fake alias and working as a temp, right?"

"Yeah..." Renee didn't want to talk about the exact circumstances that lead her to go into witness protection. It was already too painful for her. Besides, if the topic will bring up her relationship with Jack, and she certainly did not want talk about her relationship with Jack in front of an FBI agent who she just meant about 2 hours ago. Therefore, Renee tried to shift the topic. "I assume Agent Riley pulled my case report because of Kirilenko. Did you know why was he investigating this Nicholai Kirilenko?" Renee thought Sarah probably know that since she was Scott's partner.

"Actually, Scott only told me to run that name Nicholai Kirilenko through the FBI database. He said he got the name from one of his Russian informants back in New York and he was just following a hutch." Sarah then let out a half smile. "He was always about hutches, but his hutches were always good..." Sarah closed her eyes and sighed. She reminisced about working with Scott. Sarah always scolded Scott for relying on his hutches too much, and Scott, in return, always teasing her back in various ways. _How the hell did it happen?_ Sarah asked herself silently as her eyes clouded with tears.

Renee noticed the pain Sarah was hiding. The pain she knew too well when she saw Larry's body lying on that stretcher. "I'm so sorry about your loss." Renee said to Sarah gently and sincerely. She wanted to offer the young woman some comfort but she knew that it was tough losing a close friend and the road to recovery was even tougher. Truth to be told, she wasn't even sure she had completely recovered from events of that day. At the same time, Renee also felt a very strong guilt over Scott's demise. She couldn't shake the feeling that everything that she had encountered seemed to take a turn for the worse, including Jack, who was suppose to be in California with his family 18 months ago..._If it wasn't for me he would have been in California with his family, instead of becoming an internationally fugitive_...Renee thought.

Sarah suddenly felt that an illogical anger was taking over her. Sarah was angry at herself. She thought if she hadn't cover for Scott he probably would be alive. Sarah was also angry at Renee, blaming her for Scott's death as well. In general, she was angry at everyone. She felt like she was about to snap.

"How the hell did it happen? How the hell did it go down?" Sarah asked Renee angrily, while mustering her entire strength to keep her illogical anger in check.

Renee then told Sarah what she saw from her apartment, and her narrow escape from those Russian operatives.

**1:13:32**

**The Cossack, West Hollywood**

Just before being dragged up by the heavily armed Russian operatives, Jack managed to get his hands on a small piece of broken glass on the floor. Fortunately for Jack, that piece of broken glass was nearly flat and very sharp. He quickly slid it behind his belt in his in back as he got dragged up by Russian operatives.

After securing Jack Bauer, the heavily armed Russian operative tied him to a chair with zip ties. They tied his hands together around the back of the chair and his feet separately. Afterward, Viktor Lovonski told one of those heavily armed man to start hammering on Jack face with his fists. The man gladly complied.

Another Russian operative, who was the lead operative of the heavily armed assault team, identified himself as Sergeant Pushkin to Lovonski. He stated that they were sent by Colonel Kirilenko to secure and sanitized the area to prevent further leak in Kirilenko's operation. He also told Lovonski that Kirilenko wanted to speak to him, and then he handed Lovonski a phone. Lovonski took the phone from the lead operative and started talking to Kirilenko as he walked past the damaged rotating door into the back area of the cabaret club. The lead operative then ordered those men to start moving military crates inside the cabaret club to their trucks.

"Colonel, thank you for the assistance. The men had captured Jack Bauer and were in process of preparing him for interrogation. He knows your name, sir. We gonna tried to find out where he got that information." Lovonski said.

Kirilenko strategized for a moment. It seemed like Bauer is even more resourceful than he thought. Bauer somehow managed to figure out he was behind the assassination of IRK foreign minister this morning. As a result, Bauer had to be dealt with now.

"According to what SVR had on Jack Bauer, he spent two years inside a Chinese prison camp. The Chinese had worked on him for two years and they couldn't break him. What makes you think you can make him talk, Lieutenant?" Kirilenko said, after he pulled out Jack Bauer's SVR file in his computer.

"I can still try, Colonel." Actually, Lovonski already knew that jack Bauer wouldn't talk under stress. He just wanted payback for what he did about an hour ago.

"Try if you want, but if you can't break him, kill him and dispose the body. By the way, do you still have the rifle with you?" Kirilenko referring to the sniper rifle that Lovonski used to assassinate Minister Al-Fulani.

"Yes sir. I still have the rifle."

"Get Bauer's print onto the rifle and dump the rifle somewhere the authorities can find it. After you dispose the body and the rifle, continue with your original assignment. I'm also placing those men under your command. Use them well. Let me speak to Sergeant Pushkin."

"Acknowledged, Colonel." Lovonski was glad to hear that he had the colonel's permission to terminate Jack Bauer, but first, he was gonna make Jack suffer.

After handing the phone to Sergeant Pushkin, he walked into the main area of cabaret club. He turned his attention to Jack. Jack, while still tied to a chair and got mercilessly pummelled by a Russian operative , stared defiantly at his captors. Lovonski told the operative to stop beating Jack and the operative reluctantly complied. Lovonski then asked one of the Russian operatives for a handgun, the operative handed Lovonski a full sized USP pistol.

"It's kind of funny that moments ago, I found myself in that position, and now, it seems our roles have been reversed." Lovonski said while walking to Jack and stood in front of him, with smug all over his face. "You know how this is gonna end, so why don't you save both of us some troubles and tell me who gave you the info on my boss?" Although he asked the question, he wasn't expecting Jack to answer anyway. He thought it was kind of a twisted formality in this type of situations.

Jack remained silent and continued to stare at Lovonski with an intense hatred. Right now in Jack's mind, he wanted to tear Lovonski into pieces.

Without a warning, Lovonski raised his gun and aimed at Jack's head. "Last chance." Lovonski said.

Jack still remained silent.

Lovonski pulled the trigger. However he shifted his aim a bit to his right just as he pulled the trigger, so the bullet missed Jack. After the first shot, he then fired two additional shots around Jack. Clearly he was toying with Jack. However, Jack didn't even blink. He just stared at Lovonski intensely.

Lovonski chuckled slightly. "You didn't blink, impressive." He said. Lovonski then ordered one of Russian operative to pull up Jack's dark navy blue sweater. The Russian operative did as told. Suddenly, Lovonski jammed the still hot gun barrel into Jack's upper left chest, like a rancher branding livestock.

Despite the burning pain, Jack refused to scream. He still remained defiant and stared at Lovonski with ever increasing hatred.

After a short while Lovonski retracted his pistol and pressed its gun barrel onto another location of Jack's chest. If gun barrel cooled down, he could just fire a few rounds to heat it up. He planned to continue the process until the gun ran out of bullets.

**1:26:57**

**FBI Mobile Command Center, West Hollywood**

After Hoffman and his team arrived at West Hollywood, they were led to a FBI mobile Command Center which was parked in an open parking lot. There were also FBI issued sedans and SVUs near the mobile command center. Various FBI agents and SWAT teams were busy setting up equipments. Once Hoffman was inside the mobile command center he began issue orders to various dispatched FBI teams in West Hollywood and update search patterns. He was also coordinating his teams with CTU and LAPD personnel. Suddenly, his smart phone rang. He checked caller ID and it was Kristin Gordon.

"Hoffman." He answered as he walked out of the mobile command center.

"Sir, it seemed there are more to this Anne O'Connor case than we thought."

"How's so?"

"Well, remember the case file Agent Ferris pulled? I managed to find out the undercover agent's name using your authorization code. Her name is Renee Walker. "

_Renee Walker...I thought I heard of that name somewhere._ Hoffman pondered. "Have you pulled her FBI records?"

"I already did. She was no longer with the Bureau. Some of her records are actually sealed, but I manage to get around that using your authorization code. It turns out that she was fired for torturing a suspect to near death... "

_No wonder that name was familiar!_ Hoffman thought. He recalled hearing about what Renee did to Wilson three years ago. "So...what's Walker's connection with O'Connor?"

"Now here's the interesting part: she is a dead ringer for our Anne O'Connor. What's even more interesting is that according to a CTU follow up report for her undercover case, which was submitted 18 months ago, Renee Walker is actually listed as deceased in that CTU follow up report!"

"Wait a minutes, so are you saying this Anne O'Connor is Renee Walker?"

"Unless this Renee Walker had an identical twin. I already did a facial comparison. It's a match..."

"Jesus Christ..." Hoffman pitched his forehead. "Alright, maybe this woman is in witness protection. Maybe she faked her own death. Either way we got a real mess on our hands. Four of my agents are dead, and one agent is kidnapped by a renegade former FBI agent on the run from God knows who. Kristin, I want you and Parker to dig up anything in her past that can help us find her and Agent Ferris. That means contacting US Marshals' office to see if this Renee Walker was indeed in witness protection, and calling her co-workers in the past...I also want to take a look at her FBI records as well."

"I already sent her complete FBI records to you and Parker. I will contact you if I got anything."

"Alright." Hoffman hanged up, and then he opened the file Kristin sent on his smart phone. Hoffman took a look at the photo of Renee Walker and driver's licence photo of Anne O'Connor. They are the exactly the same person. Just as Hoffman was scanning through the files for additional information, a young FBI agent called him.

"Sir, LAPD was on line 3. They say one of their uniforms had spotted Bauer around the Fairfax Avenue." The young agent said.

"Alright, thanks." Hoffman said, and then he put his smart phone back to his pocket and walked into the mobile command center to take the call.

**1:31:09**

After Renee told Sarah what exactly happened to Scott, she decided to give Sarah a moment as she noticed that Sarah probably blamed her for Scott's death. Truth to be told, she was already on a guilt trip, and Scott's demise simply prolonged that trip.

Once Sarah knew exactly what happened to Scott. Her illogical anger at Renee gradually disappeared, because Renee was also the victim in this horrible situation. She thought if someone should get the blame, it's the Russian operatives. "So...we can assume that Kirilenko probably don't want people to know he had a hand in the nerve gas attack in Moscow, so he's cleaning house."

"I think that's case." Renee thought since investigation by the UN found no evidence to prove Russian's involvement in those attacks 18 months ago, the Russians probably had put the task of eliminating crucial evidences of that case on their back burners. Her knowledge of Kirilenko and his nerve gas facilities was probably the more pressing reason those Russians were after her now, because if the information about Kirilenko's complicity came out, Russia's international reputation will be seriously damaged.

"Look, Miss Walker, I just want you to know that I don't blame you for Agent Riley's death...You are just a victim of circumstances." Sarah said.

Renee nodded, but she already on a guilt trip and she didn't want to get out of it.

"So... how did you know Agent Riley? Have you two worked together before?" Sarah asked curiously.

"Agent Riley was the one who put me into the witness protection."

"Why did he do that? I mean, the case file says the undercover agent returned to duty after the operation ended, and that Kirilenko thing was only three weeks ago. The follow up report says you've been dead for 18 months. I'm guessing that there was another reason he put you in witness protection." Sarah said after she noticed there was a gap in Renee's timeline.

Renee gave a long sigh. "Yes, there's another reason. It's not about the Kirilenko stuff, but it's related to my undercover operation."

"How so?"

"You remember how IRK President Omar Hassan died?"

"Yeah...I remember. It was all over the news." Sarah remembered watching the news about President Omar Hassan's death on TV in disbelief. Sarah never would have thought such tragedy would happen to that honorable man. She also remembered the joint statement made by both President Taylor and President Dalia Hassan later that day about the Russian government being involved in the death of President Omar Hassan. Sarah recalled pundits from various political talk shows had been debating whether that claim was true or not for weeks, considering there were rumors flying around claiming that President Taylor wasn't in the right state of mind at the time. Some said Russians actually did it because they wanted more influence in the region. Some said the radical elements inside the IRK government was the only responsible party in this horrific incident. Some even claimed that President Taylor was just trying to shift the blame for the failed peace treaty to the Russians. As the time went on, the media gradually move its focus to other stories as the White House tried to downplay the whole thing. Sometimes Sarah still wondered whether or not the Russians really have a hand in that day's tragedies, or was it just a conspiracy theory and the only responsible party was the IRK extremists.

"I was also part of the CTU team that tried to rescue President Omar Hassan. However, when we arrived at the scene, it was too late." Renee said as her face darkened again. She could still remember how hopeless and useless she felt at that time. "After the failed rescue operation, a Russian operative named Pavel Tokerav, while disguised as an EMT, killed the IRK terrorist leader Samir Mehran in order to cover up Russia's involvement. At the scene, he recognized me from my undercover operation... "Renee couldn't hold her tears now. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she recalled that moment. It was at that moment her and Jack's dream was shattered. Renee still remembered the agonizing pain as the white-hot bullet entered her body. She remembered Jack telling her to hold on as she struggled to breathe as blood was filling up inside her lungs. She remembered Jack holding her inside the Taxi, telling her they gonna make it. She remembered the dark void consumed her vision as she was wheeled into the emergency room.

"What happened...?" Sarah said softly, after she noticed that Renee's expression had grown even darker as Renee's tear slid down her cheek.

"He shot me... I woke up in a secured medical facility a couple days later. Agent Riley debriefed me on what had happened. At the time I was pronounced clinically dead in the O.R, but he managed to convince the doctor to try to resuscitate me. He told me that he was part of the FBI counter-intel taskforce who was tracking a Russian espionage ring at the time. Pavel Tokerav appeared to be the man Agent Riley was after. However, Pavel Tokerav and other targets of his investigation were found dead later that day, so his case was closed for the time being. He and his boss in New York were afraid that the Russians might come after me again, so they put me in witness protection..." Renee continued somberly. She remembered waking up hoping to see if Jack was alright, but only to find out that he murdered Russian foreign minister and became an international fugitive because he thought she was dead. It was like waking up only to find herself in another nightmare.

"Oh my God... so the Russians really did have a hand in IRK President's assassination. No wonder why Scott was so secretive about meeting you..." Sarah said in absolute amazement. Again, she was absolutely shocked by Renee's revelations. After graduating from FBI Academy, she never would have thought she stumbled into international conspiracies that huge. At the same time, she grew more sympathetic to Renee's situation, since Renee did not enter the witness protection by choice, not to mention having her entire life turned upside down by that Russian operative.

"I'm so sorry to hear that." Sarah said sympathetically.

Renee only nodded. Both women then sit in a long and awkward silence. Renee tried to compose herself again while Sarah tried to digest all that information she just received. Finally, Sarah spoke. "So... what do we do now? The FBI is compromised, which means I can't call them for help..."

"We can try to find who the Russian's informant at the FBI is. Have you notice anyone behave strangely in FBI?"

"I don't know... too be honest I haven't notice anyone acting strangely. You probably have guessed, I went from the Academy straight to the LA field office a couple months ago..."

"How about people who had worked with Scott and you before? Let's start from there."

"O...OK. I think I can try to come up with a list..."

"Just take your time." Sarah noticed that Sarah was still unsure of the situation. "Come on, I'll buy you a cup of coffee." Renee said as she pulled the car out of the curb.

"Miss Walker" Sarah said sincerely. "Thank you for saving my life in the mall..."

Renee shrugged and gave Sarah a slight smile. "No problem. By the way, you can call me Renee..."

**1:42:51**

**The Cossack, West Hollywood**

After Lovonski inflicted a couple of circular burned marks on Jack's chest using his gun barrel, Jack still remain silent and defiant. Jack hadn't spoken a word to Lovonski. He only stared at Lovonski with intense hatred. Lovonski, on the other hand, decided to wrap this up. He holstered the full sized USP pistol and gave Jack a strong right hook. Lovonski's fist landed on Jack's left cheek. The force from Lovonski's punch almost knocked Jack to the floor.

"Since you won't talk, then it's the end of road for you. When you are in hell, say hello to your whore girlfriend for me." Lovonski taunted, and then he turned around and ordered two operatives to his side.

"There should be some tools and bleach around here. Gather those, and cut him into pieces and dispose the body chunks. Make sure once you cut off his hands, use those hands to print that sniper rifle, and dump the rifle somewhere near the Hilbert Grand Hotel." Lovonski ordered. While he was interrogating Jack, Lovonski had already ordered one of operatives to find his sniper rifle. The operative found it and placed it on of the tables.

"_da_ lieutenant Lovonski." Both men answered.

Lovonski then ordered the rest of the operatives to move out with him, leaving only those two operatives and Jack Bauer inside the club. After Lovonski and other operatives cleared out the club, one remaining operative went into back area to gather tools and bleach, while another guarded Jack.

Jack noticed that there was only one operative with him now and that operative was positioned far in front of him. Because both of his hands were tied together, Jack was able to take out that piece of sharp broken glass he picked up earlier from his belt and started cutting the zip tie around his wrists.

After a short while the operative returned from the back area of the club holding a box which contained a hacksaw and various sized kitchen knives. He told the operative who was guarding Jack to go to the back to get the bleach and the other operative complied. He then put the box down and took out a hacksaw. When Jack saw the hacksaw he already had an idea what's gonna go down. He tried to cut the zip tie faster, regardless of scratches and cut on his hands from that piece of broken glass.

The operative holding a hacksaw approached Jack. The operative showed a sickening smirk on his face, like he was enjoying all of this. He walked to Jack's left. Holding the hacksaw by his right hand, the operative grabbed Jack's left knee by his left hand while positioning his hacksaw above Jack's thigh, ready to saw Jack's entire left leg off, while Jack was still alive and conscious.

Suddenly, Jack's left hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed onto the operative's right wrist, controlling the hacksaw's movement. Jack then swung his body towards the operative, followed by his right fist. Quickly, Jack's fist hit the operative directly in his face. The operative was caught by complete surprise and almost got knocked down. Jack's right hand then grabbed the metal arch of the hacksaw while his left hand still gripping the operative's right wrist. At the moment, Jack was able to control where the hacksaw blade was pointing. Once Jack made the hacksaw blade pointed toward the operative, he launched himself at the direction of the operative who was struggling for balance at the moment, while his feet were still tied to the chair. Jack was able pinned the operative down. He hoped the momentum would drive the hacksaw blade into the operative's throat.

While down on his back, the operative was able to grab the other end of the hacksaw just before hacksaw's sharp blade touched his throat. While both of his legs were still tied to the chair, Jack was on top of the operative, struggling for the control of the hacksaw so he could jam the blade portion into the operative's neck. The two struggled for a short while but Jack was able to get the upper hand. The next thing the Russian operative knew was that his blood was gushing out from his throat.

After killing the Russian operative, Jack rolled to the dead Russian operative's left side. While on this back, he was able to grab the USP Compact pistol which was holstered on the dead Russian operative's right side. All of the sudden, the second Russian operative returned from the back area, each hand holding a giant bottle of bleach. Upon seeing his comrade dead and the prisoner tried to escape, he dropped the bleach and went for his holstered weapon. Unfortunately for him, Jack was quicker. Jack got the USP Compact pistol out of the dead Russian operative's holster and opened fire at the second Russian operative. The second Russian operative went down after taking a bullet in his head.

After killing both Russian operatives and untied his legs. Jack quickly scavenged the dead Russian operatives for ammo magazines and phones. He then quickly and carefully proceeded to the back alley behind the cabaret club, while holding his gun. After he got to the back alley, Jack quickly made sure there was no Russian operative present. He then holstered his weapon and called Chloe.

"Chloe, it's Jack."

"Jack! Are you alright? What happened back there?" Chloe asked worriedly. By now, she should have known better that Jack was always able to survive against the impossible odds. However Chloe was still worried.

"Yeah, Kirilenko sent another team to my location, but I was able to escape. Chloe, the name I asked you to run, Valetin Polyakov, do you have anything?"

"Yeah, the name Valentin Polyakov came up on both FBI and LAPD databases. It turns out Polyakov is a high ranking mob boss of a LA based Russian crime syndicate. According to LAPD, he is very elusive. The FBI and LAPD have been trying to build a case against Polyakov, but so far, they haven't been successful."

"What's his connection with Kirilenko?"

"Nothing in his files indicates he has any connection with Kirilenko. I already sent Polyakov's files to your phone" Chloe said awkwardly.

Jack opened the file Chloe sent on his phone and took a look at the picture of Polyakov. Polyakov was an old man in his 60's. "There must be some connection between them otherwise Kirilenko wouldn't want Polyakov dead. Do you have a location on Polyakov?" Jack asked.

"Unfortunately, both FBI and LAPD have no idea where he is in LA. However, they do have an address of one of Polyakov's business associates, Alexander Pazinhov. He lives in Beverley Hills. I'm sending you his address now."

"Ok I'm heading to Pazinhov's location. Call me if you have more on Polyakov or Pazinhov."

After he hanged up, Jack headed out of the back alley. He then hailed a cab and told the cabbie to take him to Pazinhov's address in Beverley Hills.

**1:55:27**

**West Hollywood**

A SUV was parked a couple of blocks from the cabaret club. Lovonski was sitting in the passenger seat, and at the moment, he was looking at his PDA. His PDA screen displayed a detailed wireframe map of West Hollywood with a red blinking dot that indicated Jack Bauer's position. Unknown best to Jack, Lovonski had planted a small tracking device in one of Jack's pocket when he was interrogating Jack. Lovonski thought if his men were able to cut Jack to pieces without any problem then it's all good for him. However, after reading jack Bauer's dossier, Lovonski knew that Jack had wiggled out of impossible situations more than once. Therefore, he also had anticipated the possibility of Jack escaping. He figured that if that was the case, Jack would try to find Valentin Polyakov. Therefore, he could just follow Jack, who would then lead him to Polyakov. Thinking about his fool-proof contingency plan, Lovonski couldn't help but to smirk. Suddenly, Lovonski noticed the red blinking dot on screen started to move. He then instructed his driver to started follow Jack according to Jack's position displayed on his PDA. As the driver started the engine, Lovonski forwarded Jack's real-time position to Sergeant Pushkin and told him to get him men ready. After that he called Kirilenko.

Inside his office in the Russian Consulate, Kirilenko was silently pondering his thoughts. Suddenly his phone rang and distracted him from his string of thoughts. Noticing it was Lovonski calling, Kirilenko reluctantly picked up the phone.

"Colonel, I should have Polyakov's position soon. I'm tracking an asset that can lead us to him. I will keep you updated once I got Polyakov's position." Lovonski said. He didn't want to mention that the asset was Jack Bauer because if he did, it would lead to the question on how Jack Bauer knew about Polyakov, which would reveal the fact that he talked to Jack under stress. _If the colonel knew about this, he would have my head for that._ Lovonski thought fearfully.

"Good. Looks like we can wrap this up sooner than expected. Keep me updated." Kirilenko hanged up, and then he turned around to his desktop LCD monitor and continued to ponder his thoughts. It turned out that Renee Walker's photos and FBI files were shown in multiple windows on Kirilenko's LCD monitor. _Now I remember... Vladimir Laitanan is that little gangster wannabe who tried to find out about me and my operations 7 years ago. That imbecile somehow managed to find out I was the one selling the 'Silent Night'. He should already be dead 7 years ago if it wasn't for that meddling Novakovich and his little ass-kisser Pavel Tokerav telling me to cancel the contract on his head. Now it turns out that Laitanan's bitch was actually an FBI agent. Now it all makes sense. That idiot Laitanan probably told her about the nerve gas facility in Kazakhstan, that's probably why she became that FBI agent's informant..." Kirilenko thought angrily._

Suddenly, another thought appeared in Kirilenko's mind._ Wait... on the morning of that day 18 months ago, didn't Novakovich tell me that he already took care of every lead that could implicate Russia in Omar Hassan's assassination, including Samir Mehran and a federal agent who could recognize that arrogant bastard Tokerav because of Tokerav's dealing with Laitanan? Then this Renee Walker must be that federal agent. It seems that Novakovich was even more incompetent than I thought, and now I have to clean up his mess again? What the hell? Even in death that imbecile Novakovich can still find a way to screw me over!" _The more Kirilenko thought about it, the more he wanted to kill both Novakovich and Pavel Tokerav again despite the fact they were already dead. His fists clutched harder and harder. Although Kirilenko might look calm at the moment, his rage boiled inside of him. His anger was like a soon-to-be erupt volcano at the moment. However, Kirilenko's calculating side kept telling him to calm down.

Once he calmed himself down, Kirilenko decided that he had to deal with Renee Walker as soon as possible, before she had the chance to expose his complicity in the nerve gas attack in Moscow. After strategizing, Kirilenko had come up with a plan to deal with this situation. He called his asset in the FBI. After a ringing for a brief period of time the asset picked up the phone.

"Look, I already took a pretty big risk sending you those files. What more do you want?" Kristin said angrily, after she walked to a secluded hallway and checked to see no one else was around.

"I think it's time for you to take a more proactive role in our business arrangement, Miss Gordon." Kirilenko said.

**01:59:57...01:59:58...01:59:59...02:00:00**

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**Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

_**Some random reflections:**_

_**Renee's interaction with Sarah:**__ That, for me, is one of hardest parts I've written in this fic. I don't know how many times I went back and edit this part completely. The main difficulty I have encountered is that how much Renee wants to reveal to Sarah, both business wise and personal wise. I doubt Renee is gonna reveal a great deal of her personal past with a stranger she just met 2 hours ago (Hell, she didn't tell Jack what exactly went down between her and Vlad), so I kept it more business oriented with some events that still haunts her in her mind. I hope I somewhat got Renee's character correct in this chapter (*cross fingers*). In addition, Sarah's reactions in general were also hard to write for some reasons. I hope I didn't write her too weird or too unnatural._

_**Jack with a hacksaw:**__ I'll admit this chapter is a bit 'filler-ish' (LOL). So having Jack doing something badass should make the chapter less 'filler-ish'. Plus, Jack with a hacksaw is always a crowd pleaser (LOL)._

_**Lovonski's Gambit:**__ The Xanatos's Gambit (a type of plan where the outcome, regardless of good or bad, always benefits the plotter) was hard to write due to its nature, and I don't want to make it too obvious (i.e. having Jack escape from the scene effortlessly like Lovonski allows it. Jack would have picked up on that). I hope I pulled it off to some degree. Plus, I wanted the bad guys to be cunning and calculating. I hope I conveyed that as well._

_**The Mole:**__ Yeah, there's a mole. It is more of a 24 tradition (LOL). Plus I already hinted in 8:00AM-9:00PM chapter that there was a mole inside FBI. Analyst often makes great mole because of the nature of their jobs (accessing sensitive information). I'll admit it's a bit too familiar with season 8 but at least I didn't include Kevin and Nick (LOL)._


	8. 2:00PM 3:00PM

_**Author's Notes (8/31/10 Update):**_

_This is so embarrassing (*facepalm*)..._

_This is probably one of my epic fails in fan fiction. I would like to use this opportunity to apologize for the loads of grammatical errors in this chapter. I was rushing to finish up this chapter before so I kinda only skimmed through the chapter before posting it. Next time I won't rush it and will read through the chapters carefully. I hope those blatant grammatical errors didn't affect you guy's enjoyment. (I was so embarrassed when I re-read this chapter...)_

_Anyway this update is for the purpose of changing one small aspect of the story. Basically, Polyakov's place is now a private ranch outside of L.A. instead of a mansion in Malibu. The rest of the plot lines in this chapter remained unchanged. I figured that since Polyakov is very elusive, a private ranch outside of L.A. suited him. I kinda got this idea when I was writing chapter 9 and planning chapter 10. I don't normally do this so please excuse the change in small details. (I'm also using this opportunity to correct some grammatical mistakes as well)_

_I will definitely try to minimize the grammatical mistakes in the future._

_**Author's Notes:**_

_Again, thank you guys so much for the review and support! I hope you guys enjoy the story as much as I enjoy writing it. Also, constructive criticisms are definitely welcome. Tell me what you guys think._

_As for the question of when will Jack and Renee meet each other again, I can only say 'soon'. How soon? I don't want to spoil anything so..._

_Also, as mentioned in previous chapter, the future updates will be a lot slower due to life obligations and possible writer's blocks. I actually ran into some writers block while writing this chapter, not to mention the past few days had been hectic for me (*facepalm*). So I hope you guys won't mind slower updates..._

_Now enough with my rambling, let's roll the tape!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P_

* * *

**Previously on 24:**

After interrogating Lovonski and getting the name of Lovonskis next target, Valentin Polyakov, Jack Bauer was captured by Kirilenko's assault team. Lovonski, in return, tortured Jack, but Jack remained defiant. Lovonski knew he couldn't break Jack so he ordered his men to dismember Jack. Jack was able to turn the table on Lovonski's men and escape. He then contacted Chloe and got a possible lead on the Valentin Polyakov's position. However, unknown best to Jack, Lovonski planted a bug on Jack, hoping Jack would lead him and his team to Polyakov. Meanwhile, Renee Walker explained her situation, Kirilenko, Russian conspiracy to Special Agent Sarah Ferris. Kirilenko, on the other hands, got his hands on Renee's FBI records and decided to call his asset inside the FBI, Kristin Gordon, to aide him in hunting down Renee Walker...

**The following takes place between 2:00PM and 3:00PM**

**2:01:42**

**Fort Lesker, California**

Inside his office, General Rawlins was sitting behind his desk. He was going through intels on both Russian and IRK military movements around the Caspian Sea. Despite Hayworth administration's appeasement approach with the Russians in regard to the crisis, the President and the Joint Chiefs still felt having US forces near the region might further deter Russia from launching any pre-emptive and unprovoked strike on IRK. Th presence of US military could prevent the flashpoint from becoming hot. Therefore, the Fifth Fleet and the Sixth fleet were positioned around their area of responsibilities. In addition to that, US forces around the region were also on heightened readiness. Just as General Rawlins was reading the analysis on Russian's force projection, his aide, Lieutenant Shaw, knocked on his door. General Rawlins told him to come in.

"Sir, I already checked and double checked every person who had knowledge of the Kirilenko op. All of them appear to be clean. So far, I don't think there is any leak on our side." Lieutenant Shaw said.

General Rawlins closed the vanilla folder he was currently reading and looked up to Lieutenant Shaw. "Okay, Lieutenant, I trust your judgments. Besides, I don't think there is any leak on our side to begin with. By the way, have you run this Chloe O'Brian girl Bauer asked me to find through our database?"

"Yes, sir, Chloe O'Brian was the former acting director of CTU's New York office. According to her files, she had worked with Bauer many times in the past while she was a CTU analyst. Basically, she provides Bauer technical and intel supports."

"That makes sense. Bauer would try to use someone who he had worked with in the past and probably trusted to aide him. At the moment I don't think he trusts us completely."

"Sir, should we contact Bauer or O'Brian for status updates?"

"Not necessarily. I believe Bauer will come through and complete the objective. It's personal for him. I can feel it. Meanwhile, I want you to continue monitoring the situation with Bauer. If possible, I also want you to run interference so various law enforcement agencies won't get their hands on either Bauer or O'Brian." General Rawlins knew too well that many covert ops ended up in failure simply because the higher-ups tried to co-micromanage the operations. Sometimes it was better to trust operatives' decisions instead of second guessing them.

"Understood, sir." Lieutenant Shaw said.

"Good. Dismissed." General Rawlins said as he opened the vanilla folder again.

**2:05:50**

**Pazinhov's Residence, Beverly Hills**

Alexander Pazinhov had been driving as fast as he could all the way from his office to his house in Beverly Hills. Just moments ago,he received an emergency phone call from his wife, saying their 9 years old daughter was becoming very sick. Pazinhov knew his daughter was staying at home today due to stomach flu, but he never expected his daughter's stomach flu getting worse. After he pulled up to the driveway of his house, Pazinhov quickly dashed out of his SUV. He opened the front door of his house and then rushed straight to the living room, only to find his wife and his daughter sitting side by side on the couch. His wife and daughter looked shaken and absolutely terrified.

"Honey, is something wr..." Pazinhov asked worriedly.

Before Pazinhov could finish his question, Jack Bauer appeared from Pazinhov's behind and knocked Pazinhov down by hitting his head with the grip of his USP Compact pistol. As Pazinhov fell down onto the floor, his wife held his daughter protectively while letting out loud sobs.

"Don't you move!" Jack shouted, while pointing his gun at Pazinhov. "Stand up and put your hands behind your head, now!"

"Look, take whatever you want! Just don't hurt my family, please..." Pazinhov pleaded as he was getting up, with both his hands behind his head. He thought it was a home invasion and a robbery.

Jack then took out an already closed zip tie and tossed it in front of Pazinhov. "Put it around your wrists." Pazinhov reached for the zip tie on the floor. After he got it, Pazinhov put both his hands inside the circular loop of the closed zip tie. He then held his loosely tied hands up in front of Jack, wanting Jack to pull the zip tie to restraint his hands.

"Use your teeth." Jack said. Pazinhov had no choice but to comply. He fastened the zip tie around his wrists with his teeth. "Now take a seat over there!" Jack said as he pointed to the couch opposite of the one where Pazinhov's wife and daughter were sitting. Pazinhov did so under Jack's gunpoint. At the same time, Pazinhov's wife shielded her daughter's head in her arms and told her not to look.

"Please! Don't hurt us!" Pazinhov's wife pleaded between sobs.

"Look, how much money do you want? I'll give it to you! Just let my family go!" Pazinhov pleaded desperately.

"I don't care about the money. Where's Valentin Polyakov?" Jack said coldly.

"Who? I don't know what you're talking about..." Pazinhov tried to act confused.

"Stop playing games with me. Where is Valentin Polyakov?" Jack yelled at Pazinhov. He knew Pazinhov was lying. Being a trained interrogator, Jack could easily tell whether or not a suspect was lying.

"I don't know any Valentin Polyakov! I'm just a business man!" Pazinhov said. He was actually a business man who managed one of Polyakov's front companies.

"Fine." Jack then grabbed Pazinhov's wife by her arm with his left hand, tearing her from her daughter. He then pointed his gun at Pazinhov's wife. "I'm gonna ask you one more time. Where is Valentin Polyakov?" Jack shouted. From the looks of it, Jack was sure Pazinhov was not some mobster. He was probably just some business man who got mixed up with the Russian mob. Therefore, at the moment, Jack hoped his bluff would scare Pazinhov into giving up Polyakov's location, because he had no intension of shooting an innocent woman in front of her little daughter.

"Let her go!" Pazinhov shouted back.

"Please, honey, just tell him what he wants to know!" Pazinhov's wife begged Pazinhov to do what she said, as her entire body trembled from the fear and her tears continued to flow down her cheeks.

Looking back and forth between his wife's petrified expression and Jack's emotionless face, Pazinhov finally caved in. "Alright! Alright! Mr. Polyakov has a ranch outside of the city. He usually goes there at this time of the year. I know the address…" Pazinhov said, and then he told Jack the address of where Polyakov was staying. Pazinhov chose to have Polyakov's contact information memorized simply because he didn't want to leave paper trails that could prove he was in business with a Russian mobster.

"What can you tell me about the security of that place?" Jack thought Pazinhov probably had been to Polyakov's place, so it wouldn't hurt to ask that.

"There are guards patrolling the ranch, and there are also guards at the front gate of the ranch… I think… Look, whatever beef you have with Mr. Polyakov is not my business, just don't take it out on my family, please..." Pazinhov said, hoping this mysterious intruder was satisfied with his answers so his wife wouldn't get murdered.

After hearing what Pazinhov said, Jack released Pazinhov's wife from his grip. The terrified woman quickly moved to her daughter's side and shielded her daughter in her arms again. She sobbed even louder.

After releasing Pazinhov's wife, Jack took out a tactical knife while still keeping his gun pointed at Pazinhov. He cut the zip tie around Pazinhov's wrist. Jack then took out additional zip ties from his pocket after putting away his knife.

"Tie your wife and daughter up, then you gonna help me get into Polyakov's place." Jack said coldly. Under gunpoint, Pazinhov had no choice but to comply.

**2:16:34**

Kristin Gordon had asked her fellow analyst, Raymond Parker, to cover for her. She told Parker that she had to leave the office to handle a family emergency. Parker reluctantly agreed to cover for her because he knew if Kristin didn't have a solid reason, she wouldn't leave the office during an inter-agency coordinated manhunt. Once Kristin left the FBI field office, she headed straight to an abandoned factory. It was where Kirilenko told her to meet his men and await further instructions.

Meanwhile, inside the abandoned factory, Chernov was on the phone with Kirilenko, with a cigarette in one hand.

"Colonel, forgive me for being blunt, but are you sure you want to use our FBI asset as the bait, and then kill her later? We might need her in the future..." Chernov said over the phone. He didn't want to challenge his superior, but he simply thought it was a wastful killing an asset they had placed inside FBI.

"There is always somebody we can easily turn inside various law enforcement agencies. Right now this Kristin Gordon knew too much about our current operations in US for her own good. Therefore, she has become more of a liability than asset. Kill her once you take care of Walker and the other FBI agent." Kirilenko ordered over the phone.

"_da_, Colonel." Chernov said as he saw a car drove into the abandoned factory. "Our FBI asset is here. I got to go." Chernov hanged up the phone, took one last puff of his cigarette, and then threw the cigarette on the ground. He gestured two of his men to come with him as he walked towards to Kristin's car.

As she drove into the factory, Kristin saw there are two SUVs and a van. Beside those vehicles, there were three Russian operatives, including Chernov. She parked her car and got out of it as Chernov and two of his men walked up to her car. Kristin thought there were probably more men inside those vehicles. Therefore, she thought it was probably wise to choose her words carefully. However, she couldn't help but to think this was possibly some sort of set up.

"Alright, what does your boss want from me? I already hold my end of the bargain by giving you information you need…" Kristin said firmly, while trying to sound calm.

"My boss wants to use you as bait to draw those bitches out of their hiding holes." Chernov stated bluntly, without sugar coating it.

"What? That wasn't part of the deal! Your boss said I only have to get you whatever information you need and…" Kristin protested. She was absolutely angry and shocked. She thought dealing with Kirilenko would only involve passing sensitive documents or installing bugs. She would never have guessed that she would be participating in Kirilenko's death squads' operations.

"Miss Gordon. What do you think will happen if you refuse to do so?" Chernov said as he and his men showed her their pistols and submachine guns. Once Kristin saw the guns her anger vanished in a fraction of a second, and it was replaced with fear. "Besides, if you do this, you will be well compensated." Chernov continued. It was classic carrot and stick, except there was no carrot in the first place.

Kristin pondered for a brief moment. Right now she pretty much had no choice but to do what Kirilenko's men said, and she wouldn't dare to think about the consequences if she didn't. "Alright, but if I do this, you have to make sure both of them are dead and I'm protected throughout the operation. I don't want any of this getting back to me!" Kristin demanded.

"Don't worry, Miss Gordon. My men are the best at what they do. Those two bitches will be dead and you'll be back in FBI in no time." Chernov said. He let out a smirk while musing about naïve demands made by the FBI analyst. "Try to get a message to them. Tell them to meet you at Green Palm cemetery in private. My men will set up the ambush there. Let's get you prepared. "

"O… Okay." Kristin nodded nervously.

**2:21:45**

**Russian Consulate**

Inside the Russian Consul's office, the Russian foreign minister, Semyon Lugansky, was on the phone with the Russian President, Yuri Suvarov. They were discussing the new proposal the Americans had brought up. Truth to be told, Lugansky wasn't too thrilled about the new proposal his American counterpart, Secretary of the State Kevin Ross, brought up. Of course, having one of the Russia's enemies brought to them in gift wrap was good, but it was probably not enough to stop the hardliners in Moscow from pushing a full-blown war with IRK. Both President Suvarov and Lugansky didn't want Russia to engage in an all out war with IRK because they figured it would be less costly to just have Dalia Hassan step down and replace her with someone they could control. However, with Suvarov's influence waning inside the Kremlin, the hardliners were more likely to succeed in pushing their agenda. Therefore, Lugansky told Kevin Ross that he would consider the proposal with President Suvarov, but he also warned the Secretary of the State that President Suvarov would also want something more in addition to Jack Bauer.

"So what you are saying is that the Americans will give us Jack Bauer in exchange for not pushing military action against IRK?" President Suvarov asked, showing a slight hint of anger as he recalled the man who tried to assassinate him 18 months ago.

"That is correct, Mr. President."

_That's not good enough. Even if I parade Novakovich's killer around the Red Square, it won't stop those hardliners from pushing military strikes. The only way to stop them is to have Dalia Hassan step down, so we can regain the influence we had in that region with minimum bloodshed. However, since Bauer is the enemy of Russia, if I get him from the Americans that would mean those hardliners would have no excuse for painting me as a fruitcake politician. Maybe I can say that giving Bauer to us only buys them a good will and some time, they still have to pressure Dalia Hassan to step down. _Suvarov thought, trying to calculate his next move.

"So, do Americans have Jack Bauer in custody?"

"No. According to my sources, Jack Bauer is currently in Los Angeles. The US authorities are actively hunting him there because what happened this morning with the IRK foreign minister."

Suvarov already knew Jack took out the IRK foreign minister from the intelligence reports he received. He thought Jack Bauer had probably gone completely mad over his girlfriend's death and now he was blaming IRK as well. _Interesting..._ Suvarov mused.

"Sir, what do we tell the Americans? Do we reject their proposals?" Lugansky asked.

"Tell the Americans that handling over Jack Bauer to our custody will count as a good will, and in return I will temporary suspend military activities around the region once Bauer is in our custody. However, it's only temporary. Dalia Hassan still needs to step down in response to the terrorist attack three weeks ago. Handing Jack Bauer over to us only bought them some time on the negotiation table." Suvarov said. He though having Jack Bauer in custody and Dalia Hassan stepping down would help him regain his influence inside the Kremlin, hence having more power to deal with those hardliners.

"That could be difficult since Secretary of the State Ross said that right now the IRK President Dalia Hassan won't listen to their advices because what happened with their foreign minister this morning. Plus, they still don't have Jack Bauer in their custody."

"Then that's their problems. Tell them if they don't capture Jack Bauer by the end of the day this offer expires." Suvarov said harshly. He was certain that the Americans would go for the idea of having more time on negotiation time, hence creating extra incentive for the Americans to capture Bauer.

"Understood, Mr. President." Lugansky said. At the moment, he was a bit worried on whether or not President Suvarov would be able to contain those hardliners long enough.

**2:24:16**

**Mocha and Muffin Cafe**

Before finding a coffee shop, Sarah somewhat wondered if the bullet holes on her blouse would attack any unwanted attention, but fortunately, that was not the case since there was no blood spatter or gun powder burn on her blouse. After ordering their coffee, Renee and Sarah then found an empty table at the corner of the shop, away from the see through window. Once they were seated, Renee gave Sarah her phone back so Sarah could go through the contact list of her FBI colleagues stored on her phone. After knowing Renee was a former FBI agent, Sarah felt that she could trust Renee more than she did an hour ago. Therefore, she was more than willing to share with Renee about everything she knew about each of colleagues on her phone's contact list. As Sarah was going through the FBI phone book on her phone with Renee and trying to recall if she noticed something usual with each of her colleagues in the FBI, suddenly, Sarah received a text message. It was from Kristin. Curiously, Sarah checked the text message.

'_Sarah, I know we had our share of disagreements, but right now I don't know who I else can trust in the Bureau. I need your help and I can't discuss the details over the phone. Can you and Renee Walker meet me privately in Green Palm Cemetery? Please!'_

Renee also saw the text message. "How well do you know this Kristin Gordon?" She asked. Renee figured that FBI probably already knew her name by now since Sarah pulled her undercover case file. Renee also thought that Russians probably got her FBI records as well, since Russians had asset or assets in the FBI. As a result, she grew more worried and frightened by this possibility. However, at the moment, Renee knew she needed to put those emotions aside in order to focus on exposing the Russian conspiracy.

"She is an uptight workaholic, but she's also a very good analyst." Sarah said grudgingly.

You trust her?" Renee asked suspiciously.

"Well, Scott... un... Agent Riley trusted her, so yeah...I guess I trust her. I mean, she is practically an FBI girl scout... I really don't see her working with those Russians." Right now Sarah was still unsure of whom she could trust at the FBI. However, Kristin was always uptight about following FBI's regulations and protocols. Therefore, Sarah thought there was no reason to suspect Kristin. "To be honest, I'm probably the last person she would contact in the case of serious emergency... She doesn't like me for some reasons." Sarah continued embarrassedly. It always bugged Sarah that she couldn't figure out why Kristin didn't seem to like her.

Renee refrained herself from rolling her eyes. At the moment she could care less about petty office gossips. "Ok, assuming she is not the Russians' asset, from the message, it sounds like she found out someone inside FBI is working with the Russians. Maybe she asked for your help because she knew you just graduated from Quantico, hence you are not a spy for the Russians." Renee stated. However, she also couldn't help but to get suspicious. The timing was too perfect. She and Sarah were trying to figure out who was working with the Russians inside the FBI and all of the sudden, someone just appeared with the information. Therefore, Renee decided to approach this matter very cautiously.

"Could be... otherwise she wouldn't sound this desperate in her message." The more Sarah thought about this the more it made sense to her. "I think we should meet her, see what she have found." Sarah suggested.

Renee still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, but at the moment she and Sarah had no leads concerning Russians' informant in the FBI. Therefore, Renee decided to go along with it. "Okay, but we will do this my way."

Sarah could guess that Renee probably wanna sweep the area before meeting Kristin. _Geez, are you always this paranoid?_ Sarah wanted to protest but decided not to due to current situation she and Renee were in. Therefore, Sarah simply said Okay and nodded. Sarah honestly thought Renee was being overly cautious and worrisome.

Both women then stood up and got out the coffee shop.

**2:31:07**

**Beverly Hills**

Inside an SUV parked several houses down from Pazinhov's house, Lovonski and his driver observed Pazinhov's house with binoculars. Lovonski pinpointed Jack's location from the wireframe map displayed on his PDA. So far, the red dot representing Jack, hadn't moved from that location. _This is the house Jack Bauer went into. From the looks of it, Bauer was inside that house for a while. It might be where Polyakov is hiding._ Lovonski thought. He also wondered that what if Bauer found the tracking device and it might be an ambush set up by Bauer. Since Jack Bauer was a very impressive operative, he had to consider every possibility. However, his gut kept telling him he worried too much and nobody was that good. After a brief moment of thinking, Lovonski decided to go with his gut and called Sergeant Pushkin and his men to this location. He took out his phone and started dialling.

"Sir, Bauer is coming out of the house! It looks like he bought someone with him." Lovonski's driver said just as Lovonski punched the final digit on his phone. Lovonski slid the phone into his pocket and picked up his binocular again.

"Wait a minute... That's not Polyakov! Who the hell is that guy?" Lovonski said as he observed both Jack and Pazinhov through his binocular.

"Looks like they are getting into the SUV parked on the driveway, should we continue to follow them?"

"Yes. Make sure you hang back a lot more this time. Let the tracker do its job for us."

"_da,_ Lieutenant."

As the driver pulled out of the curb, Lovonski took out his phone again and called Sergeant Pushkin. He told the sergeant that Bauer hadn't reached Polyakov's position yet. He also told the sergeant to keep his men on standby because he should have Polyakov's position very soon.

**2:39:18**

**Green Palms Cemetery**

Before driving into the cemetery, Renee parked the park near the front gate of the cemetery and told Sarah to go to meet with Kristin first. She was gonna do a security sweep to see if the surrounding area was secure before meeting Kristin in person. Once the area was clear Renee would call Sarah informing her that she could meet them both. After both women agreed on this, Renee put on her small ear-bud headset for her cell phone and got out of the car. Once Renee was out of the car, Sarah switched to the driver's seat and put on her headset for her cell phone as well. She then drove into the cemetery to meet Kristin. Renee walked into the cemetery, trying to act like a casual visitor while her eyes were constantly scanning her surroundings for any signs of danger.

In one corner of the old cemetery, Kristin was standing beside one of the taller tombstones. There were some various sized tombstones around her. Right now she was nervous as a wreck. She knew that Chernov's men were nearby, disguised as cemetery caretakers or visitors to remain covert. However, the presence of Chernov's men made her even more nervous. Right now, Kristin's anxiety level was through the roof.

In addition to his men positioned in the cemetery, Chernov was stationed inside the second floor of a church far from where Kristin was standing. Behind the closed door of a secluded room on the second floor of the church, Chernov had set up a sniper's nest. He kneeled down behind the window and placed the bipod of his SOPMOD configured Springfield M1A rifle outfitted with scope and suppressor on the window ledge. The window overlooked part of the cemetery where Kristin was standing, giving Chernov a clear view of the area. Through his scope, Chernov aimed the crosshair at Kristin's location. Once Renee Walker and Special Agent Sarah Ferris showed up, he would have no problem taking both women out. Under Kirilenko's order, he would also have to take Kristin Gordon out as well, simply because Kristin had exceeded her usefulness. Chernov still thought it was somewhat wasteful killing an asset inside FBI, but orders were orders.

After a brief period of waiting, Kristin saw a sedan pulled up to the curb of the road. Sarah got out of the sedan and noticed Kristin was waiting. Sarah walked passed various tombstones and towards Kristin. Kristin, on the other hand, started to get nervous again once she saw only Sarah was walking towards her, and there was no sign of Renee Walker.

"Hey." Sarah said once she arrived in front of Kristin.

"Where's your friend?"

"Well, she is feeling a bit... um... paranoid at the moment, but she will be here soon." Sarah said as she looked around for any potential threat. After that she said. "So in your message you sounds a little freak out... what exactly did you find?"

"Remember the case file you pulled earlier? I was going through it and trying to find out the undercover agent's name, so I asked Hoffman for help since he is one who has the security clearance to access the more sensitive information on that case file. Hoffman gave me his authorization code to access it. That's when I found something… disturbing."

"How's so?"

"I also wanted to talk to anyone who knew about the case, you know, just to be thorough, so I checked the log on who access that part of the case file. It turns out Hoffman accessed that classified part of the file about two hours ago…." Kristin lied. She hoped she was convincing enough so the newbie in front of her would buy it.

"So Hoffman already knew Anne O'Connor is Renee Walker…then why didn't he tell you?" Sarah asked.

"I was wondering about that too, and then I found something…terrifying." Kristin pretended she was frightened by what she was about to say. "According to the log, Hoffman not only accessed the classified part. He also copied it, encrypted the file, and sent it to somewhere. To where I have no idea…but since he was willing to hide the fact that he knew about Walker's identity…"

"So he must be doing something illegal with the file, like sending it to the people who are currently after Renee! Oh my God…." Sarah finished Kristin's sentence for her. She was absolutely shocked and terrified by Kristin's phony revelation.

"Exactly" Kristin said. She got Sarah right where she wanted her. Now she just needed Sarah to make Renee Walker show up here, so Chernov's men could kill both of them.

"O…Okay… "Sarah said while pondering what to do with this information." How about we talk to Justice Department, the OPR…. If you have the log then we can nail Hoffman with that!"

"Are you nuts? If those guys can get our boss to betray the FBI, don't you think they have someone inside the Justice Department, too? God you are such as newbie!"

"Then what do you want to do? Pretend it never happened?" Sarah asked angrily. She was annoyed when people, especially her co-workers calling her a newbie.

"I wanted to talk to Renee Walker. She must have an idea about people who are after her. Once we knew what kind of people we are dealing with we can think our next move…" Kristin hoped Sarah would call Renee Walker and tell Renee to come here after hearing what she said.

"Renee already told me. They were Russians." Sarah said, and then she began telling Kristin about the Russian conspiracies.

Meanwhile, while she was walking around not far from Sarah's position inside the cemetery, Renee tried to move around by staying close to trees and larger tombstones so that she would be less noticeable. As she was walking, she overheard parts of Sarah and Kristin's conversation from afar. Renee couldn't help but to roll her eyes after hearing what Sarah just said. _Since when does being cautious equal being paranoid?_ Renee complained silently. Suddenly, she saw a glint on a second floor window of a church. Suddenly, her body became extremely tense. _It looks like that glint is from a sniper scope. I better check it out._ Renee thought. She cautiously walked towards to the church.

Once she made her way into the church cautiously. Renee pulled out her Glock 19 pistol and began to carefully scan the first floor of the church. So far, the first floor of the church was empty. Despite she hadn't seen anything or anyone suspicious, her trainings and instinct told her to be on alert. She raised her weapon and checked her corners as she cautiously proceeded to the stairs. Once she reached the stairs, Renee climbed it slowly and silently, with her gun aimed at the top of the stairs. After she made her way to the second floor of the church, Renee walked down the hallway cautiously and carefully without making a sound. Suddenly, as she approached a small room to her left, Renee heard a man speaking Russian. She also smelled a very distinctive cigarette smell. Renee remembered that smell and she hated it. It reminded her of the time when she was undercover inside Vladimir Laitanan's crew. Laitanan used to take her to various Russian restaurants for either business or his sick twisted version of romantic dinners, and Renee always hated the cigarette smells in those restaurants. As a result, Renee's alert instinct kicked in. _There must a Russian operative inside that room._ She thought. Renee decided to take advantage of the element of surprise by kicking the door open.

Chernov at the moment was concentrated on looking down his scope. Through his scope, he only saw Kirstin Gordon talking that blonde FBI agent_. Where is that bitch with dark auburn hair?_ He thought angrily. He then thought his primary target was probably being cautious and sweeping the area. Therefore, through his earpiece, Chernov ordered his men to be on the lookout for Renee Walker around the area. He was tired of having to chase down his targets. He hoped that Renee Walker would later show up beside Kristin Gordon and that blonde FBI agent, so he could easily take them out at the same time. Therefore, Chernov told Kristin through her hidden earpiece to stall that blonde FBI agent until Renee Walker appears. Just as he impatiently waited for Renee Walker to arrive at Kristin's position, suddenly, someone kicked the door behind him open. Instinctively, his right hand quickly released from the trigger of his sniper rifle and reached for his side arm: a Glock 19 pistol.

"Drop the rifle!" Renee said coldly as she stormed inside the room and pointed her gun at Chernov. Suddenly, the vivid memory of that day she got shot resurfaced. Using information she learned from her debriefing with Agent Riley, her mind constructed a mental image of Pavel Tokerav positioned himself across Jack's apartment, stalking them, watching their sweet moment of intimacy. At the moment, she saw Chernov positioned himself behind the window, holding a sniper rifle, stalking her as well. What she had saw now reminded Renee of that terrible mental image. Renee also remembered Jack's worried face as he tried to carry her out of danger despite being under fire. That when everything went downhill for Jack and her. Suddenly, an immeasurable rage and disgust took over her.

Chernov, on the other hand, thought that the woman probably not gonna kill him. From her dossier, Chernov knew she was a FBI agent. Therefore, he thought she was probably gonna cuff him and try to vent him first. However, Chernov still couldn't get over the fact that this woman managed to best him and his men, all well-trained GRU operatives, twice in a row. At the moment, Chernov thought if he could draw his side arm and turned around quickly enough; it would have caught this woman by surprise. Even if she could kill him, he would also put a round or two in her as well.

"You bitch!" Chernov said. Without missing a beat, he drew his Glock 19 pistol and began to turn around.

Renee noticed that Chernov's movement, so before Chernov could turn around facing her completely, she fired her weapon in quick succession, unloading the entire magazine in her gun onto Chernov's body. Renee's finger kept pressing the trigger even after she ran out of ammo, and her gun only emitted mechanical clicking sound afterward. At the moment, her face became cold and emotionless, the same face she had moment before she tortured Alan Wilson. She was angry at those Russian operatives for making her life so miserable. She was also angry at herself for putting Jack and other innocent people in those terrible situations as well.

"_Renee, are you there?_" Sarah asked her via her headset. Sarah's voice snapped Renee back into the reality. Renee quickly took out her pocket scope and looked outside the window. She could see both Sarah and Kristin. _Oh my God… this is definitely a trap. The sniper was waiting for me to show up… that means Kristin Gordon is indeed the Russian's asset inside the FBI._ Renee thought.

"_Renee, are you there? I know who the Russian's asset inside the bureau is... _" Sarah said again.

"Agent Ferris, Kirstin Gordon is the Russian's asset inside the FBI. I repeat, she is the Russian's asset. I just took out a sniper positioned inside the church overlooking your position. This whole thing is a setup! If you can try to take her alive, do it. Otherwise just get out of there!" Renee ordered Sarah through her headset no-nonsensically while she scavenged Chernov's bullet ridden body for ammo magazines. Fortunately, The Russian was using the same type of pistol she was carrying and he packed a lot of ammo magazines on him. Once Renee gathered enough ammo she quickly headed out of the church.

After Sarah heard what Renee said via her headset, she was unsure about the situation. She hesitated for a moment. Should she trust her colleague or the mysterious stranger she just met about three hours ago? She looked away from Kristin for a second as her mind struggled with those choices.

After noticing Sarah's hesitation, Kristin began to get nervous. _Did Renee Walker somehow find out about the ambush? If so, then she probably knew I'm working with the Russians. I need to act fast before this rookie pulls her piece on me._ She thought. Kristin then reached for her S&W Model 64 Snub Nose Revolver from her purse. Kristin actually acquired the gun from one of Chernov's men by stating she needed protection as well. Chernov allowed Kristin to have a gun but he didn't give Kristin any extra ammos. She pulled the revolver out and pointed it directly at Sarah.

"What the hell?" Sarah said as she saw the revolver in Kristin's hand. Kristin's action caught Sarah completely by surprise, and it also validated her worst fear: Renee was right. Kristin was Russians' asset and this was an indeed a trap set up by the Russians. "So…you are the Russians' asset in the FBI…" Sarah said in shock and disbelief.

"Hand your weapon to me." Kristin demanded.

"But... why…?" Sarah said, still in shock.

"I don't own you any explanation. If both you and Renee Walker had shown up together I wouldn't have to do this... Now shut up and give me your weapon!" Kristin said angrily.

"Damn it, Kristin! You and I both took an Oath! And that doesn't mean anything to you?" Sarah said angrily. Suddenly, she noticed Renee was stealthily approaching to Kristin's position from Kristin's behind. Renee, with her gun already drew, stayed low and stayed close to various tombstones while moving close to Kristin. Sarah knew she needed to keep Kristin distracted so that Renee could take Kristin down from behind. "How much do those Russians pay you? Enough to sell out your conscience and country?" Sarah said as she looked Kristin right in her eyes.

Kristin, on the other hands, was too focused on Sarah to notice Renee. "Shut the hell up! If you don't give me your weapon I gonna shoot you in the kneecaps!" Kristin shouted.

"Go to hell!" Sarah retorted.

Kristin aimed her revolver at Sarah's left kneecap. Sarah winced as she hoped Renee would get here in time. Just as Kristin was about to pull the trigger, Renee, appeared behind Kristin from seemingly out of nowhere, pointed her Glock 19 pistol at Kristin. "Drop the weapon." Renee said coldly.

Kristin, now noticed Renee was behind her and pointing a gun at her, had no choice but to comply. Kristin dropped her revolver on the ground.

After Sarah saw that, she took a step forward and gave Kristin a right hook, effectively knocking Kristin down to the ground. Kristin on the other hand, was shocked by Sarah's sudden prone to violence and stayed on the ground. Sarah then quickly took out her handcuff and cuffed Kristin.

"Agent Ferris, are you alright?" Renee asked, while keeping her gun pointed at Kristin.

"I'll be." Sarah said as she dragged a cuffed Kristin up from the ground.

Meanwhile, one of the Russian operative who dressed as a cemetery caretaker noticed that all three targets had been in the same position. He decided to give Chernov an update on the current situation.

"Captain, I have a visual on the primary and secondary targets. They are currently in the same location as the bait." The operative spoke into his hidden earpiece. However, there was no response from the other end.

"Captain, I repeat, the primary and secondary targets are in the same location as the bait." The operative said again into his hidden earpiece. However, all he got was silence. That's when he realized something was wrong.

"All teams, I lost contact with the captain. The primary and secondary targets are moving away with the bait. I'm engaging the targets. All team move in!" The operative said to all other operatives through his earpiece. He then took out his customized Sig SG 552 assault rifle outfitted with ACOG (Advanced Combat Optic Gunsight) and a suppressor from his wheelbarrow full of gardening tools. Once he switched to semi-automatic mode and lined up his scope with the targets, the operative opened fire.

"We gotta move." Renee said. Suddenly, a bullet hit the large tombstone on Renee's right. Tiny stone fragments flew out in every direction upon the bullet impact. Instinctively, Renee quickly ducked and sought cover behind that tombstone as bullets continued to rain down at her position. Sarah, while keeping Kristin's head down and dragging her at the same time, quickly moved behind a large tombstone behind Renee's right and used it as cover for both her and Kristin. Kristin, meanwhile, was frightened by the development and decided to stay low and let Sarah dragged her.

The Russian operative continued to fire at Renee's direction. However, he only hit the tombstone which was used by Renee as her cover. Each bullet created an explosion of tiny stone debris and smoke upon hitting the tombstone surface.

"There's a shooter at my one O'clock!" Renee shouted to Sarah as bullets raining down at her position. Sarah nodded while pulling out her weapon. After drawing their weapons, Renee and Sarah popped out from their respective covers and started firing at the direction of the Russian operative who was currently shooting at Renee. The Russian operative, on the other hand, quickly sought cover behind a large tree to his left. After taking cover, he told other Russian operatives in the field to flank the targets.

As both Renee and Sarah engaged the Russian operative hiding behind a tree, suddenly, another series of shots from Sarah's far right hit the tombstones which Sarah and Kristin were using as cover. Tiny stone debris from bullet impacts and smokes exploded outward as bullets striking the tombstones. Sarah quickly ducked behind her cover again as she caught a glimpse of another Russian operative trying to flank her from her right. Renee, on the other hand, noticed the Russian operative on Sarah's far right as well. She quickly turned to her right and started firing at the Russian operative who was on Sarah's far right. However, that Russian operative was quick enough to sought cover behind a tombstone in front of him. The Russian operative who was behind the tree popped out and resumed firing at Renee's position. Renee had no choice but to retreat behind her cover again.

_Damn it they are trying to box us in. _Renee cursed silently. "Agent Ferris, they are trying to box us in. We gonna have to make to shoot our way to the car while moving from cover to cover. I will cover you and draw their fire while you and the suspect moved to the cover behind you. You ready?"

"Yeah." Sarah said while reloading her weapon. Truth to be told, Sarah was not ready, but she knew she had to suck it up and do what Renee told her in order to survive through this. Kristin, on the other hand, was too scared to protest. Plus, she was handcuffed and couldn't do anything at the moment except pray she would live through this.

"Go!" Renee ordered

Sarah popped out from her cover and fired at the Russian operative who was using tree as cover. As Sarah's bullets whizzing pass him, the Russian operative quickly sought cover behind the tree again. After firing a couple of shots, Sarah grabbed Kristin and began to move to another tombstone behind her and Kristin. Both women tried to stay low while moving.

The Russian operative, who was on Sarah's far right, popped out from his cover and then he looked down his scope. He lined up his shot at Sarah and Kristin while they were moving to cover. Suddenly, Renee popped out from her cover, turned to her right, and fired at the operative who was aiming at Sarah. Renee's bullets hit unlucky operative on Sarah's far right and the operative fell down on his back. Sarah and Kristin, meanwhile, successfully made their way behind the large tombstone and used it as their new cover. Quickly, Renee turned to her front and fired at the position of the Russian operative who was hiding behind the tree, effectively suppressing the operative. After couple of shots, Renee quickly got up and dashed to Sarah's original position: the tombstone behind Renee's right.

After the bullets stopped flying, the Russian operative behind the tree popped out from his cover and fired at Renee as she dashed to the tombstone behind her right. His bullets kicked up a lot of dirt from the ground following Renee's heels as Renee was moving. Quickly, Renee dived behind the large tombstone which Sarah and Kristin were using for cover earlier as bullets kept flying pass her.

Sarah, noticing that Renee still taking fire, popped out from her new cover and fired at the direction of that Russian operative besides the tree. The Russian operative was forced to retreat behind the tree again, cursing loudly in Russian in process. However, Sarah's gunfire was interrupted by a series of bullets hitting her cover and the ground around it.

Meanwhile, Renee noticed a third Russian operative shooting at Sarah from Sarah's far left. The third Russian operative was trying to flank Sarah from Sarah's left, and he was crouching behind a small gravestone. Renee popped out her cover and fired her weapon at the third operative, killing the operative from afar in process.

"Agent Ferris, we gonna have to make a run for the car. I will cover you while you take the suspect to the car. "Renee said as she retreated behind her cover again. After that, she reloaded her pistol. "On my mark, one, two, three. Go!" Renee ordered.

After she said that Renee quickly popped out her cover again and then she fired at the direction of the tree where the Russian operative was hiding. At the moment, Renee also caught a glimpse of a fourth Russian operative who was trying to flank her from her right. She quickly turned to her right and fired a couple of shots to suppress the fourth Russian operative, then she turned to her front to suppress her original target. Renee continued firing to suppress at both operatives in different directions as Sarah dashed to the car, dragging a handcuffed Kristin with her. Kristin willingly let Sarah drag her simply because she didn't want to be shot by those Russians.

Once Renee ran out of ammo she quickly turned around and made a run for the car. Both Russian operatives popped out from their respective covers and fired at Renee. Hails of bullets flew across the graveyard and hitting tombstones besides Renee as she ran for the car. As Renee arrived beside the car, Sarah was in process of shoving Kristin behind the backseat.

"Come on, we gotta go now!" Sarah said while trying not to panic.

Renee acknowledged that and quickly jumped into the driver's seat as Sarah got into the backseat of the car. Renee quickly started the car and drove away in full speed.

As they noticed their targets had reached a car, both Russian operatives ran toward to the car, hoping to get close so they could have clear shots. However, as they got close, the car pulled away from the curb. Both Russian operatives fired at the car with their assault rifles but they only hit the bumper, the trunk, and the car's left tail light as the car sped away. Once the car was out of their range, one of the operative lowered his assault rifle and let out a short sigh. There was nothing they could do at the moment.

"Renee, we need to go to the FBI now, let them now that Kristin is working with the Russians. I could protect you there..." Sarah said while trying to hide her panic in her tone. Right now she knew Kristin was the one who was working with the Russians. Therefore, she thought the FBI field office should be safe. Plus, with FBI's resources, Sarah thought she could help Renee and also wouldn't need to worry about getting shot at anymore.

"No, we're not going to the FBI. Not yet. Right now I need to ask Miss Gordon something." Renee said ominously as her expression darkened. She then shot an intense and hateful look at Kristin through the rear view mirror. The look sent chills down Kristin's spine. Sarah also saw Renee's look in the rear view mirror. Originally she wanted to protest on why they are not going to the FBI, but after she saw Renee's look she decided to hold her protest for a while. _Crap... From the looks of it, something really pissed her off._ Sarah worried ominously. At the moment, she prayed Renee would not do anything stupid...

**2:52:38**

**Polyakov's Ranch**

Polyakov owned a private ranch outside of Los Angeles. He loved the secludedness of the location, which meant his enemies would have trouble finding him. Plus, the ranch was his private property, so even if the police or FBI managed to find him here, they would need warrants or probable causes in order to enter the ranch from the front gate. In addition to the secludedness, he also loved the fresh air in the countryside. It helped him think and strategize. However, right now, he had a difficult problem he needed to solve and he seemed cannot find any solution to the problem.

As Pazinhov drove up to the front gate of Polyakov's ranch, Pazinhov noticed the guard in front of the ranch gate. The guard, despite looking unarmed, actually got a IMI Micro Uzi concealed under his jean jacket. Jack stayed out of sight in the backseat of Pazinhov's SUV while keep his gun pointed at Pazinhov. Jack noticed the guard also.

"You say one word I don't like I'm gonna kill you and the guard, then I'm gonna double back and kill your family, do you understand." Jack said in his low and gravel voice.

"Y...Yes." Pazinhov said nervously.

Once Pazinhov stopped at the front gate, he rolled his window half down as the guard approached Pazinhov's SUV.

"It's Alex Pazinhov. I'm here to see the boss. It's urgent. It's about the ledger of Calluna Trading Company..." Pazinhov said to the guard. He tried to sound as business-like as possible, despite his nervousness. The guard wanted to take a peek at the backseat, but the tinted SUV windows prevented him to do so. He decided against it since Pazinhov was someone Mr. Polyakov trusted. Plus, if it was about the money, Polyakov would see Pazinhov right the way. The guard then took out his walkie-talkie and radioed whoever on the other side of the line in Russian. After he received his instructions from the walkie-talkie, he walked toward the ranch gate and opened it. The guard then gestured Pazinhov to drive through the gate and into the ranch. Pazinhov drove the road leading up to the main house of the ranch. As Pazinhov was driving, Jack noticed there are armed guards patrolling the perimeter of the ranch. Those guards brandished their AKM assault rifles freely in the open area of the ranch. Jack thought he needed a plan to get into the main house unnoticed.

"I got you inside. Now can you please let me go back to my family after I drop you off? Whatever beef you had with Mr. Polyakov it's none of my business. I just managed his front company. I'm a legitimate business man..." Pazinhov pleaded impatiently and desperately.

"You are not done yet. Once you drive up to the house, you are gonna go to Polyakov, and then you are gonna introduce me as your business associate, while I wait for you in the car."

"What? You gonna get me killed! This is not the way Mr. Polyakov conducts business...He hates surprises..." Pazinhov complained. Now he was nearly hysterical.

"He will have to make an exception this time around." Jack said coldly as Pazinhov drove to the front of the main house.

Once Pazinhov stopped his SUV in front of the main house, he got out of the car and headed for the front porch. After Pazinhov was at the front door and rang the door bell, the front door opened. A man wearing track top and holding an IMI Uzi submachine gun gestured Pazinhov to come into the mansion. The man was Josef, Polyakov's lieutenant. After Pazinhov came into the house and made sure the door was closed, he decided to tell Josef about the mysterious man inside his car.

"Look! Tell Mr. Polyakov or whoever in charge of securities that there's a man who wants to kill Mr. Polyakov. He is currently sitting inside my car. He threatened to kill my family if I don't bring him here to meet Mr. Polyakov. Please just kill him!" Pazinhov pleaded. He thought that Polyakov probably wouldn't kill him for bringing that man here, since the front company he managed was too important and profitable for Mr. Polyakov.

After hearing what Pazinhov said, Josef rushed out of the front door. While pointing his IMI Uzi submachine gun at Pazinhov's SUV, Josef moved carefully towards it. Once he reached Pazinhov's car, he quickly opened the backdoor of the SUV. However, he found no one inside Pazinhov's SUV. Josef then reached for his walkie-talkie and started issuing orders to the guards patrolling the perimeter of the ranch in Russian. He ordered them to spread out and searched the area for a possible intruder. Afterward, all of the guards in the ranch were on heightened alert. They started running around the ranch and actively searching for the intruder. Josef also began to search the area around the house, hoping to find the intruder as well.

Meanwhile, Jack had already gotten out of the SUV after Pazinhov walked into the main house. He predicted that Pazinhov would probably tell the security about him if Jack given him the chance, so he decided to use Pazinhov as a distraction. Once Pazinhov kept the guard distracted, Jack could try to sneak into the house unnoticed. After Jack screw the suppressor onto his USP Compact pistol, he quickly got out of the car. Jack stayed low and entered the house from the door on the left side of the house stealthily. Once he entered the house, he began to clear the house room by room, actively searching for Polyakov. Despite he hadn't found anyone inside the house yet, Jack was still on alert and checked his corners carefully as he clear each room. Finally, Jack moved to the door of a study.

Valentin Polyakov was currently sitting behind his wooden desk inside his study. He was deep in thoughts about a difficult situation. Polyakov liked to keep the entire main house to himself and Josef when he was here at the ranch, simply because he would like to be alone when he was thinking. He only had his trusted lieutenant, Josef, around the house for security reason because Josef would not have bothered him unless it was an absolute emergency, and Polyakov didn't like to be bothered with minor things when he was thinking and mediating. Just as he was lost in his train of thoughts, suddenly, the double door of his study opened. Jack showed up at the door of the study and pointed his gun at Polyakov. After walking into the study, Jack quickly closed the door behind him. Polyakov was startled by Jack's unannounced appearance inside his study. Quickly, he opened his desk drawer and went for his Makarov pistol in the drawer. However, Jack already had his weapon pointed at Polyakov.

"Don't even think about it." Jack said coldly.

At the time, Polyakov knew he had no choice but to comply with this intruder's demand. He released his right hand from the Makarov pistol inside his drawer and raised both of his hands reluctantly.

"What the hell do you want?" Polyakov said in a very thick Russian accent. Strangely, Polyakov was very calm considering he was being held hostage by a mysterious intruder.

"We need to talk." Jack said.

**02:59:57...02:59:58...02:59:59...03:00:00**

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**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

_**Some Random Reflections/Ramblings:**_

_**1. Jack doing home invasions:**__ Man, Jack seems to do that a lot in this chapter (I think he also did two home invasions in season 5). Originally I was kinda reluctant to have Jack holding holding Pazinhov's wife and daughter hostage, and then threatens to kill Pazinhov's wife. I somewhat doubt Jack would want to traumatize an 9 years old, since he's a grandpa now. However, in the end I kept the scene for the edginess but added a line stating that Jack is bluffing. Consider his state of mind, Jack was still in revenge mode (despite his unsureness). Therefore he is gonna be ruthless. I hope that doesn't make him out of character._

_**2. Renee's badassery:**__ Too much? or too little? Yes, I'll admit Renee shooting Chernov multiple times is definitely similar to Jack shooting Drazen in season 1, but it's mainly because I want a scene where Renee confronts a sniper and goes nut on the sniper. Also on an unintentional note, Renee actually killed approximately 10 people within the span of 7 hours. That's her combined quota from both day 7 and day 8...I swear this is unintentional. I honestly didn't think Renee would end up killing that much people when I was writing the story (LOL)._

_**3. Cemetery gun battle: **__Originally, Kristin was suppose to meet Renee and Sarah in a more urban setting since it's more ideal for snipers to hide. However I later thought the Russian operatives probably would want a more discrete and secluded place to set up ambushes. As a result, cemetery is chosen as the place of meeting. Also, as scenery changes, some of action stuffs also change (hence the writer's blocks on how the scene plays out). For instance, since the scene took place in a more discrete setting, I kinda want to have a Mexican standoff between Kristin and Sarah after Renee informed Sarah that Kristin is the mole. But I also want to convey Sara's inexperience so I ended up having Kristin holding Sarah at gunpoint. Also, originally, both Renee and Sarah were suppose to escape with Kristin after Renee took out the sniper. no gunfight involved afterward. But then I thought Chernov probably won't be doing the ambush all by himself so I ended up having a gun battle in the end of the meeting. Coming up with a firefight in this chapter is definitely a challenge since I kinda decided it last minute. I hope I did somewhat an acceptable job on the scene. By the way, the cemetery is fictional. _


	9. 3:00PM 4:00PM

_**Author's Note:**_

_Oh man... last chapter was really my 'epic fail' in terms of writing this story, simply because too many errors in it. For that, I apologize and I hope those errors didn't affect you guys' enjoyment of the story. I actually re-read the last chapter and I admit it was really my bad. I wanted to get the last chapter out ASAP at the time and as a result, I only scanned through the document as oppose to check it in detail (*facepalm*). Therefore, I will definitely do a more thorough quality assurance in the future. Those errors in the previous chapter had been corrected as I changed a minor detail in that chapter (Polyakov now resides in a ranch outside of L.A. instead of a mansion in Malibu)._

_And I also need to apologize for the super late update. I had been quite busy lately. The future update will be also slower. I apologize in advance._

_Finally, thank you all for your reviews, support, and constructive criticisms. _

_Now enough with my rambling, let's roll the tape! _

_**Additional Research Notes:**_

_**Desantniki**__: Nickname for Russian Airborne Troops (VDV). It literally means 'those who land'._

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P_

**The following chapter contains scenes of torture. Reader's discretion is advised.**

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**Previously on 24**

Jack Bauer got Polyakov's location from Polyakov's business associate, Alexander Pazinhov. As a result, Jack infiltrated Polyakov's ranch and successfully confronted Polyakov. Meanwhile, Chernov set up a trap for Renee Walker and Special Agent Sarah Ferris by using Kristin Gordon as the bait. However, Renee and Sarah were able to turn the table on Chernov and his men, and successfully got away with Kristin as their suspect.

**The following takes place between 3:00PM and 4:00PM**

**3:03:45**

**Polyakov's Ranch**

After Polyakov sat down again at his desk with both of his hands still risen, Jack moved near the desk and grabbed Polyakov's Makarov pistol from the drawer. While pointing his suppressed USP compact pistol at Polyakov, Jack released the magazine of that Makarov pistol and then de-cocked that gun with on hand so the already chambered round inside the Makarov pistol ejected out.

Suddenly, something clicked inside Polyakov's head. "Now I remembered... No wonder your face looks familiar. You are Jack Bauer, is that correct?" Polyakov said in thick Russian accent.

Jack just stared Polyakov angrily. He thought after what he did 18 months ago, it was not strange for someone like Polyakov to recognize him.

"Your name was on the most wanted list of every Russian foreign intelligence agency because of what you did 18 months ago... You are quite the celebrity in the intelligence community back home." Polyakov half joked.

Jack also wasn't surprised that the Russians wanted his head on the silver platter. He also alerted that Polyakov seemed to be well-connected enough to have ties with Russian intelligence. Therefore, Jack kept his weapon pointed at Polyakov and decided to treat Polaykov as a hostile combatant.

"The thing is, Mr. Bauer, I don't think you are here to kill me. If that's your objective I would be dead the moment you walk into my study. Therefore, I think you are here for something... Right now my men are actively searching for you in my premises. Any minute from now, my left-hand man Josef will knock on the door to check to see if I'm alright. There are two ways it will play out: one is that I shout at top of my lung and you will be force to shoot me. And then my men will storm in and kill you. However, I doubt that's what you want. Another way is that you put your weapon away and we discuss whatever you want to discuss...so what's gonna be?" Polyakov said calmly as he put both his hands on his desk. He thought more firm approach might make Jack Bauer back down a little.

Jack was a bit surprised how perceptive Polyakov was, but his face remained emotionless and cold as he knew he could not show any weakness in front of a Russian mobster. His experience told him not to trust the man in front of him. In addition to that, the horrible memory of seeing Renee in Vladimir Laitanan's arms resurfaced. Jack knew Vladimir Laitanan did to Renee both times she had been undercover. As a result, anger gradually rose inside him.

"Clock's ticking, Mr. Bauer." Polyakov added.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of Polyakov's study. "_Mr. Polyakov, is everything alright?_" Josef, Polyakov's lieutenant, asked in Russian.

Maybe it was because of the anger, or maybe it was because he thought it was the right play, Jack decided to grab Polyakov and use him as a human shield. He already held Polyakov at his gunpoint. He could easily hold the old man in front of him hostage if those armed men outside decided to storm in. Besides, with Polyakov as a human shield, Polyakov's men probably wouldn't dare firing at Jack due to the fear of wounding or killing their boss in process. Therefore, Jack decided to go through with the course of action. He moved behind the chair where Polyakov was sitting and grabbed him with his left arm while pointing his pistol at Polyakov's head. He was prepared for Polyakov to scream his lung off.

Polyakov, on the other hand, thought threatening Jack Bauer had gotten him nowhere, and decided to use a more diplomatic approach to defuse the situation. Polyakov thought that he had no beef with Jack, and last thing he wanted to do was to make enemy with the man who was able to kill a well protected Russian foreign minister. Therefore, he decided to show Jack Bauer some courtesy, hoping Jack would also show some in return.

"_Everything is fine. The intruder is an old friend of mine. I'm discussing business with him. Leave us!"_ Polyakov said in Russian.

"_What about Alexander Pazinhov?"_ Josef asked in Russian.

"_Let him go. And tell him not to call the cops."_ Polaykov replied in Russian. He could have guessed Jack used Pazinhov to get his location. He thought that Pazinhov would probably be a good sport about it and pretend the whole episode never happened, because Pazinhov could not go to the police due to his connection with him.

After the short exchange, Josef was baffled for a moment. He thought Mr. Polyakov could be held hostage by the intruder. However, he also thought that what if it was exactly like what Mr. Polyakov said? It was not unusual that Mr. Polyakov meet with some shadowy figures without informing his underlings. Plus, the Mr. Polyakov hated people interrupt his meetings. The last guy who did that a while ago ended up literally losing his tongue. _It was better not to rock the boat._ Josef thought, and then walked away and radioed the men to inform them that the situation was clear.

Jack was also a bit baffled for this as well. Just as he wondered why the hell Polyakov did that, Polaykov spoke.

"Could you please let go of me?" Polyakov knew that the art of negotiation often involved some give and take. Right now he just hoped he gave Jack Bauer enough so that Jack would back down a bit.

Jack, on the other hand, thought that maybe it was part of Polaykov's plan to get him to release him. Jack thought once Polyakov was no longer his human shield, he would have his men came in. Jack also thought maybe it was Polyakov's way of showing him some courtesies, but he couldn't take that chance.

"Look, Mr. Bauer. I do not want to be your enemy. I have enough of them already. I got no qualm with you. You are obviously here for something other than holding me hostage, so let's talk..." Polyakov said genuinely.

Jack thought about it for a moment. Right now Polyakov sounded genuine. Therefore, Jack decided to take a chance and hear what he had to say for the moment. However, he remained cautious because he was unsure of what kind of tricks Polyakov might try to pull. Jack loose his grip on Polyakov's neck, walked to the opposite side of Polyakov's desk, and then sat down. Jack rested his hands on the arm rest, but his left hand still holding his suppressed USP Compact pistol, which was still pointed at Polyakov.

"You want anything to drink?" Polyakov said, reaching for the bottle of single malt Scotch that was already on his desk and pouring himself a cup.

Jack simply shook his head. "Nicholai Kirilenko. What do you know about him?" Jack said.

After hearing Kirilenko's name, Polyakov simply laughed._ It must be my lucky day. I got a problem and then the solution just appeared right in front of me._ Polyakov's mind mused.

"What's so damn funny?" Jack asked, showing a slight hint of anger. He failed to see what what's so funny about Kirilenko in Polyakov's mind.

"You are here because of Kirilenko, and you haven't killed me the moment you walked into my study, so I'm sure you are not working for or with him. I'm guessing that you want to either capture him, kill him, or both, is that correct? I doubt you want to simply have a friendly chat with him..." Polyakov deduced.

Jack was still deciding what to do with Kirilenko after he got his hands on him. Jack was certain that he was gonna make Kirilenko spill everything about Russian's involvement in the attacks 18 months ago. However, he haven't decided whether to kill him or not afterward. This is Renee's life he was avenging, not his. _Is this what Renee would have wanted?_ That question still haunted him, but Jack pushed it into the back of his head and decided focusing on getting Kirilenko first. Jack thought after he got Kirilenko he would decide then.

"I'll take your silence as a yes." Suddenly, another idea appeared inside Polyakov's head. "I'm also guessing that you came to me because you want to use me, a man whom he wants dead, as bait to draw him out of his hiding hole, which is the Russian Consulate, is that correct?" Polyakov said as he gestured his right hand around.

Jack was surprised that Polyakov's mind was sharp as a razor blade for the man of his age. "How do you know Kirilenko is coming after you?" Jack asked. He was sure that Polyakov probably had contacts in both Moscow and Los Angeles and he probably learned the news from those contacts.

"I got contacts inside the Consulate." Polyakov said. "Frankly, Mr. Bauer, I'm not gonna be your bait, not in this life time. But I think I've found someone who can serve the same purpose...According to my contact, Kirilenko seems to be also after someone...A woman, to be exact."

"And you want me to use this woman as bait instead you." Jack said, finishing Polyakov's sentence.

"Precisely."

"You have a name for this mysterious woman?" Jack scolded. Right now he didn't believe what Polyakov said completely. For what Jack knew, Polyakov could be saving his own ass by coming up with some fairy tale about some mysterious woman so he wouldn't use him as a bait, or Polyakov was setting up a trap for him. Therefore, Jack approached this matter very cautiously.

"Not at the moment. My source inside the Consulate is still working on that..."

"Why should I believe you?" Jack asked suspiciously, since Polyakov could not produce the name of that mysterious woman, Jack thought he was lying.

"Because currently, I believe you and I both want the same things: To kill Kirilenko. I want him dead because he is coming after me, and you must have your own reason for wanting him dead. There is an old saying: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I believe it fits perfectly in our case...so what you say, Mr. Bauer, once we got the woman we can use her as bait to draw Kirilenko out of the Consulate, and then we can kill him right at the spot, or capture him and kill him later... it doesn't matter as long as Kirilenko is no longer a threat to me. I can provide you with weapons, men..." Polyakov said. He was clearly getting ahead of himself there.

Jack pondered for a moment. Right now he didn't trust Polyakov completely, but what Polyakov said made some sense. They both wanted Kirilenko, and Polyakov seemed willing to work with him on that. Jack thought maybe Polyakov was just using him to get to Kirilenko, but then again, he was doing the same thing. To Jack, Polyakov was just a mean to an end. Therefore, Jack decided to think through this proposal cautiously and carefully.

"Seems like you have resources, why didn't you deal with him yourself?" Jack asked.

"I only got contacts in low levels. It was hard to get high level contacts without Kirilenko noticing. Kirilenko is very well connected back home. Plus, he is a former GRU Colonel, which means he is also very well connected with the special force community inside Russian military. Pretty much all of the men who worked for him are former _Desantniki_ or Spetsnaz. I, on the other hand, only got Russian army washouts or some gangster-wannabes from the street that can't even shoot straight. Besides, I like to stay in low profile, which means I don't want attract unwanted attentions from the authoritiess, such as LAPD or FBI... bad for business, you know." Polyakov said.

"You seemed to know a lot about Kirilenko. You worked with him before?" Jack asked curiously.

After hearing what Jack said, Polyakov stayed silent for a moment before he started to speak. "I suppose there is no harm telling you if I want to convince you to work with me in this case. I know you don't trust me. If I was in your position I won't trust the person in front of me either." Polyakov then let out a long sigh. "Valentin Polyakov is not my real name. My real name is Oleg Pavlovich Doletskaya. Colonel Oleg Pavlovich Doletskaya. I had worked with Nicholai Kirilenko in GRU before he was a Colonel...I taught him the trades and crafts. You can even say that I was... his mentor..." Polyakov said.

**3:11:29**

The remaining Chernov's men quickly drove out of the cemetery in a van after the gun battle. Sitting on the front passenger seat, the lead operative, Markov, called Kirilenko. Although he did not want to be the one who delivered the supremely bad news to his boss, but he thought if they want to complete their assignment, they need more men and resources since those two women were even more capable than they had originally thought.

"Colonel, this is Markov... Captain Chernov is dead and those bitches got the FBI analyst..." Markov said while tried to hide the nervousness in his voice.

"So you are telling me that those two bitches are still breathing, and now they got our asset as well?" Kirilenko said in an inquisitional tone.

"Yes, Colonel..." Markov answered somewhat nervously. He knew that there was no point lying to his superior at this point.

After hearing this, Kirilenko's rage suddenly boiled over. He shouted out a string of curses in Russian to his phone. "You imbeciles can't handle two little bitches? What the hell am I paying you for? Do you have any idea what your failure might cost us? Now those bitches are probably on their way to the FBI to expose our operations!" Kirilenk shouted angrily. His calm demeanour disappeared as his rage erupted like a volcano.

"Sir, we are tracking the location of the asset. We planted a micro tracking devices on her." Markov reported. Before the operation, Chernov's men planted micro tracking device inside Kristin's purse without Kristin's knowledge. The GPS tracking device was disguised as a small flash drive so no one would noticed it.

"Then why the hell didn't you try to intercept them!"

"Sir, those bitches are tougher than we expected. There are only two men, including me, left in our team. If we gonna take those bitches on, we need additional support..." Markov pleaded. He was quite embarrassed that he was asking for help against two women.

Kirilenko was still fuming over Chernov's colossal failure, but he also knew that what needed to be done in order to resolve the situation. After pausing for a moment, Kirilenko calmed down a bit. He decided to grant the Markov his wishes. Kirilenko thought that if he continued to lose more men, he would have to rely on private security firms instead. "Permission granted. More men will rendezvous with you within the hour. Make sure those bitches are death or you will be going back to Russia in a body bag." Kirilenko stated coldly.

"Acknowledged, Colonel!" Markov said with determination.

**Abandoned Garage**

Meanwhile, after driving for a short while, Renee managed to find an abandoned garage in a more secluded area. She parked the sedan in front of the garage.

"Stay put. I'm gonna check to see if the garage is clear." Renee said to Sarah emotionlessly before she got out of the vehicle, leaving Sarah and Kristin in the backseat. Sarah, at the moment, was extremely nervous. She honestly had no idea what Renee was gonna do next.

"Look, Sarah, you gotta help me! You gotta get me to the FBI custody, please!" Kristin pleaded desperately.

"I don't think you are in position to make any demands." Sarah said coldly in disgust. At the moment she was still disgusted by the fact that Kristin was the traitor who was working for those Russians the entire time.

"Do you even know why Walker is fired from FBI? Have you ever heard of a man named Alan Wilson? Do you know what she did to him?" Kristin said hysterically, suddenly she noticed Sarah's slightly confused looks "Oh I forgot, of course you don't know because you haven't read her files yet. Walker tortured the guy inside the..."

Before Kristin could finish her sentence, Renee opened the back door of the sedan.

"We're clear. We can bring her to the garage for questioning." Renee said to Sarah. Then she began to walk to another side of the car. Sarah got out of the car and closed the door on her side. What Kristin said really got her curious. She didn't completely believe what Kristin said about Renee, since she thought it could be some elaborate lies Kristin made up because she tried to throw them off the case. However, Sarah also considered the possibility that Kristin was telling her the truth about Renee, since Renee was avoiding the question on why she was let go from the FBI. At the moment, Sarah was confused. She decided to get some information from Renee about this matter.

"Renee, can I talk to you for a second?" Sarah asked.

"Sure. What's wrong?" Renee said.

"Who is Alan Wilson?" And what did you do to him?" Sarah asked Renee with a slight inquisitional tone.

"That's none of your business." Renee said while trying to sound firm. She thought that Kristin probably saw her records already and relayed that information to Sarah.

"Did you torture him? Is this what you gonna do to her as well?" Sarah asked, hoping that was not the case.

"I said that's none of your business!" Renee raised her voice angrily at Sarah.

Renee's refusal to talk about the topic only confirmed Sarah's worst fear: Kristin was telling the truth. Renee did torture Alan Wilson. That's probably the reason why she was fired from the FBI. The realization shocked and horrified Sarah. So far, Sarah had the impression that Renee was an excellent and stand-up FBI agent who had been through a lot in the past. The thought of Renee doing something like brutally torturing a suspect seemed to be out of her character. _She was a FBI agent, she should have known that coerce interrogation is illegal, let along conducting it…_ Sarah thought.

"It is my business when you gonna torture a suspect in my custody." Sarah said firmly. "Damn it Renee, this is not the way we do things. You would be breaking at least 50 federal laws and guidelines if you tortured her. Besides, the coerced interrogation is unreliable at best, she would probably tell you want you want to hear..." Sarah said, hoping to bring some sense to Renee. She thought that what happened to Wilson was probably an isolated incident.

"Then what would you do? Try to cut a deal with her?" Renee replied angrily.

"Possibly…However I think she will tell us everything willingly. I mean, by now, she should know that those Russians want her dead as well. If we can offer her protections, she will have more incentive to talk to us." Sarah explained.

"If she is willing to tell us everything then she would have talked during the car ride. She's not gonna talk to us because I think she is trying to use what she knows to leverage a deal with FBI and Attorney General. It could take days just for the deal to go through. Right now we don't have the time, especially with those Russians chasing us. We need to find out more about those Russians' operations quickly before more innocent people got caught in the crossfire." Renee countered.

"That still doesn't excuse us for applying coerced interrogation!" Sarah protested. "I'm not gonna let you torture my suspect. I'm the only FBI agent here, so I will be handling the questioning. You can either let me do things my way or I'm calling the FBI to pick us up. If you want to stop me then go ahead!" Sarah said as she reached for her phone. Sarah didn't want to back down, especially on something she believed in deeply. Sarah believed in the rules of the law and basic rule of fair-play. It was drilled inside of her when she was training in Quantico. Sarah wouldn't let some stranger she just met hours ago to influence her belief. As a result, as much as she didn't want to, she pulled the rank of an FBI agent on Renee.

At the moment, Renee tried hard to refrain herself from taking out her gun and threatening Sarah. Deep down, she knew Sarah was right. Plus, she didn't want to lead Sarah down the same path she took three years ago. She tortured Wilson, and her action not only cost her career and friends. It also cost her a piece of herself. She thought she could've lived with that decision but it turned out she couldn't. Suddenly, memories of Wilson's smug face, her depression, and her suicide attempt resurfaced again. Renee tried to suppress those memories because she knew at the moment, she couldn't break down. After she put those memories into the back of her head, she began to analyze the situation. She knew that Sarah probably won't let her interrogate Kristin. She could sense Sarah's determination in standing up for something she believed in. Renee once believed in the same beliefs too, therefore, she could sympathize with Sarah's dilemma. As a result, she decided to be a bit more diplomatic.

"Look, Agent Ferris, I understand your concern. How about this: maybe I could make her think I'm gonna torture her, but I don't need to touch her. I think that alone would make her sweat and give us what we want to know." Renee suggested.

"You mean...like a good cop bad cop thing?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah...sort of." Renee said awkwardly.

Sarah thought about it for a brief moment. Kristin seemed to be scared of Renee because she thought Renee was going to torture her, so with Renee present during the questioning, Kristin might be intimidated enough to spill the information about the Russians.

"O...Okay. But you can only intimidate her." Sarah agreed, although she got a really bad feeling that something would go wrong during the questioning.

"Okay." Renee agreed, hoping that she could intimidate Kristin into giving them the information about those Russians. Truth to be told, Renee didn't want to interrogate Kristin in front of Sarah, but she knew that sometimes it was necessary to get your hands a little dirty in order to get the results. She learned that from Jack.

After both Renee and Sarah agreed on the terms, Renee walked to the other side of the car. She opened the back door and grabbed Kristin. Kristin, after being grabbed by Renee, shot a 'save me' look at Sarah. At the moment, Sarah was more confident that Renee's suggestion would work. Kristin seemed to be terrified of Renee. At the same time, she still couldn't shake the feeling that something is about to go terribly wrong…

**3:15:41**

After noticing the red dot representing Jack became stationary for a while, Lovonski was able to determine that Jack was currently at a ranch not far from his position. The ranch was quite secluded. Therefore, any approach made by Lovonski's SUV in order to get closer to the ranch would be obvious. Therefore, Lovonski ordered his driver to park the SUV in a secluded area somewhat close to the ranch, and then he ordered Sergeant Pushkin and his men to rendezvous with him at that location. While waiting, Lovonski opened the satellite map of the ranch on his PDA and studied the ranch layout and its surroundings. He noticed several woodened areas inside the ranch. Lovonski already had a game plan in his mind.

After waiting for a short while, Lovonski saw a couple of SUVs drove towards his SUV. After those SUV stopped, 22 men stepped out of those vehicles. Sergeant Pushkin was among them. After getting out of his respective vehicle, Sergeant Pushkin ordered his men to get ready, and his men quickly took out weapons and equipments from the back of those SUVs. Lovonski got out of his car and greeted Pushkin.

"Lieutenant Lovonski, as you requested, a small army. I had worked with these men before in the past and they were professionals. Right now they were ready and eager for actions..." Sergeant Pushkin reported. During the car ride, Lovonski had ordered Sergeant Pushkin to get more men to reinforce their ranks since he did not want to take any chances, especially with Jack Bauer around his target. Fortunately, Pushkin was well connected in the underground mercenary business. Therefore, he was able to get hold of some well-trained professionals. "How do you want us to proceed?" Sergeant Pushkin asked.

"The primary and secondary targets are inside the main house." Lovonski said as he showed the satellite image of the ranch on his PDA to Pushkin. We will split into three teams. One team will set around a perimeter around the main house and another will storm the house. The third team will act as a security team and sweep the rest of the structures and area in the ranch. I want us to take the stealth approach, neutralize the guards if there is any on the open field." Lovonski then began to point to the locations of the wooded areas inside the ranch on his PDA. Indicating that the men could use them as foliages as covers.

Sergeant Pushkin nodded in agreement with Lovonski. "_da_! Lieutenant Lovonski. I will brief the men about the plan once you uploaded the satellite image to my PDA."

"By the way, Sergeant, I will be leading one of the teams." Lovonski said and sergeant acknowledged his order. Deep down, he still wanted payback for what Jack did to him three hours ago. As he walked to one of the SUV to get some tactical gears, Lovonski thought once he had the main house surrounded, no matter how good Bauer is, he would die in the hail of gun fires, or preferably, his bullets.

**3:18:07**

**Abandoned Garage**

Renee brought Kristin into a room in the abandoned garage while Sarah parked the sedan into the garage. After that, both Renee and Sarah re-cuffed Kristin to a chair inside the room. With both her hands cuffed behind the back of the chair, Kristin could guess what would happen next. Therefore, she began to assess her situation, hoping she could find a way out of it. Although she didn't hear much when she was alone in the car, from what Kristin could gather, Sarah probably didn't agree what Renee would do to her, and it seemed that Sarah would be conducting the questioning. Kristin thought it made sense because Sarah was the FBI agent and Renee was not. She then decided that if she stonewalled both women long enough Sarah would have no choice to take her to the FBI anyway. Once she was in the FBI custody she could easily negotiate a deal, perhaps even a new start in the witness protection program. Now Kristin just hoped Sarah could keep Renee Walker on a leash.

After securing Kristin to the chair, both Sarah and Renee moved in front of a cuffed Kristin. Renee kept her arms crossed in front of her chest. Her expression remained cold and emotionless. Sarah approached Kristin.

"Okay, Kristin, since we both know the drill so I'm just gonna get right to the point, You tell us about the those Russian's operations, and I will make sure your cooperation goes a long way." Sarah said while trying to hide her disgust and remain professional at the same time.

"I'm not telling you a thing until I see someone from the Justice Department..." Kristin said firmly.

"What's the difference? You can tell me what you know right here right now and I will let the A.G.'s office know that you cooperated with the investigation..."

"I would feel a lot more comfortable if I was sitting inside the FBI field office with my lawyer and an actual signed agreement in front of me. Right now, I'm in an abandoned garage and you don't have anything. Therefore, I'm not telling you anything" Kristin said smugly, trying to stonewall both Renee and Sarah into taking her to the FBI.

"Miss Gordon. I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. Those Russians also want you dead. Right now it's in your best interest to cooperate with us and tell us what you know, so we and the FBI can take down those Russians quickly before any more innocent people got killed. After you tell us what you know we will take you to the FBI. We can protect you in the meantime. Agent Ferris will also make sure your cooperation is noted." Renee said, also tried really hard to hide her disgust for the woman who was cuffed to a chair in front of her.

"Protect me?" Kristin simply laughed. "Look at the situation you are in now, I don't think you couldn't even protect yourself and your little sidekick here. Besides, what I know is worth a lot more than a simple plea bargain. I want something substantial with no jail time involved: like witness protection. I doubt either of you can offer me that, so I'm not speaking a word until I get what I want."

"Damn it Kristin! We're trying to help you here!" Sarah said angrily. She didn't think that Kristin would be stubborn enough to shut her out completely to get what she wanted.

Kristin remained silent.

Suddenly, a familiar memory resurfaced in Renee's mind. She remembered Dana Walsh's smug face when she tried to bargain a deal with Jack and CTU in exchange for President Omar Hassan's location. However, they were still too late since the broadcast was pre-recorded. _If Dana Walsh just told them where President Omar Hassan is none of the tragedy afterwards would not have happened._ Renee thought. As her thoughts wondered, Renee's anger and disgust slowly and gradually took over her.

"Look like we have no choice. I'm gonna have to call the FBI and explain everything. Maybe my boss can get A.G.'s office on the line…" After Sarah said that to Renee, she turned around and took out her phone, preparing to dial her boss, Special Agent in Charge Stan Hoffman's number.

Just as Sarah turned around and reached for her phone in her pocket, Renee quickly took a step forward and her left hand grabbed Kristin by the back of her neck. At the same time, she took out her tactical knife from her pocket and pressed the knife's edge on Kristin's left ear.

"Tell me what you know about Kirilenko's operation or I gonna cut your left ear off." Renee said coldly.

"Renee! What are hell you doing?" Sarah said in shock as she turned around facing Renee and Kristin. Right now she really hoped that Renee was bluffing. _Please, Renee, tell me you are bluffing!_ Sarah prayed.

"You are buffing!" Kristin said defiantly. At the moment she thought Renee was just bluffing. She thought with Sarah present, Renee would not torture her.

Just after Kristin said that, Renee began cutting off Kristin's left ear lobe. Suddenly, Kristin let out a loud and agonizing scream.

At the moment, Sarah dropped her phone on the ground and literally froze in shock and disbelief. She was absolutely horrified and disturbed by Renee's violent action. Her body then began to tremble like jelly. _She didn't just do that…. She didn't just do that… _The thought repeated in Sarah mind as she watched on. She felt like she was in an episode of _Twilight Zone_.

After Renee finished, Kristin continued to scream in pain and agony.

"I'm gonna ask you again, what can you tell me about Kirilenko's operation!" Renee shouted as she continued pointing her tactical knife to Kristin's face.

Renee's shouting abruptly snapped Sarah back to reality. Instinctively, she knew that Renee was losing it and she had to do something to stop Renee. Without missing a beat, she pulled out her Glock 26 pistol. She held up her in both hands weapon and pointed it at Renee.

"Renee! Drop the knife!" Sarah shouted. Her hands trembled as she kept her gun pointed at Renee. "I don't what to shoot you but I will if you don't drop the knife!"

However, Renee just ignored Sarah's threat and continued to threaten Kristin. "I'm gonna start cutting your other ear if you don't start telling me about Kirilenko's operation." Renee stated coldly. Right now she thought Kristin was about to break. Although she was unsure that whether or not Sarah's gonna shoot her. Renee knew one thing for certain, Sarah would shoot to wound, and she could live with that if she broke Kristin. However, deep down, Renee felt horrible that Sarah had to see this, and she wished there was another way. Sarah, in some ways, reminded her of the more ideal and innocent version of herself before the undercover operation with the Russians. Renee just hoped what Sarah thought won't traumatized her or lead her down to a path she will end up regret.

"Damn it Renee, just drop the knife!" Sarah shouted as she struggled to keep her weapon pointing as Renee with her trembling hands.

Renee continued ignoring Sarah and moved the knife closer to Kristin's right ear. Sarah, on the other hand, still struggled on whether or not she should pull the trigger in order to stop Renee's madness.

"Alright! Alright! I will tell you everything! Just don't hurt me!" Suddenly, Kristin pleaded as her tears continued to roll down her cheeks. She was in a great deal of pain, and she was absolutely mortified at the same time. "…and please... just... do something to fix my ear... please! I'm begging you!"

"We will treat the wound after you tell us about Kirileno's operation." Renee said coldly as she lowered her tactical knife. As the same time, Sarah sighed in relief as she holstered her Glock 26 pistol. However, Sarah was still terrified about what just happened. She still couldn't believe what Renee just did. Sarah angrily gave Renee a disgusted 'How could you done that?" look. _Damn it Renee! You are once an FBI agent. How the hell could you done that?_ Sarah thought.

At the same time, Renee turned around and gave Sarah an 'I'm so sorry' look. She felt absolutely terrible for making Sarah saw that. However, she needed to suppress her inner emotions and ignore Sarah's guilt inducing look because the interrogation was still ongoing at the moment.

"Kirilenko wants me to make sure a frame job goes right. All I had to do was to make sure the authorities arrest the right fall guy for the IRK foreign minister's assassination..."

"IRK foreign minister was assassinated?" Renee asked without hiding her shocking expression. She hadn't got a chance to watch the news, so she wasn't aware of the assassination until now. So far, US authorities hadn't release any information concerning IRK foreign minister Al-Fulani's assassination to the public yet.

"Wait... are you saying Kirilenko framed Jack Bauer for IRK Foreign minister's assassination?" Sarah asked Kristin upon hearing what Kristin said. Kristin's confession snapped Sarah back to reality. Right now, despite how they got there, Sarah thought she still needed to get more information out of Kristin. Therefore, she sucked it up and tried to act as professional as she could, despite the fact she was still very disturbed by what happened a brief moment ago.

On the other hand, upon hearing 'Jack Bauer' and 'frame for IRK Foreign minister's assassination' in the same sentence, Renee had become even more shocked. She froze in completely disbelief. _Jack was in L.A and he is in trouble? _The thought repeated in Renee's mind. Right now, she felt the entire room was spinning.

"No... In Kirilenko's plan original plan, fall guy was a man named James Bellows. Bellows was a former Marine scout sniper who lost his brother to those IRK radicals 18 months ago, which makes him the perfect fall guy... My job was to point the FBI and authorities in the direction Kirilenko wants them to go... However, everything changes after Bauer showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time... Kirilenko has no need to frame Bellows so he wants me to help his men hunting that psycho bitch friend of yours!" Kristin said as she shot an angry look to Renee. Renee, at the moment, was still too shocked to notice that look.

"Where is he?" Renee asked, while still in shock.

"You mean Kirilenko? He is inside the Russian Consulate...If you want to go there and get him, then good luck. You need an army and..."

"Where is Jack?" Renee asked again.

"How the hell should I know? He is a Federal fugitive on the run from every law enforcement agency across the country..." Kristin said impatiently.

"Wait, you know Jack Bauer?" Sarah asked. Judging by Renee's worried tone Sarah guessed Renee probably knew Jack Bauer. All Sarah had known about Jack Bauer was from the briefing she had this morning. She knew he was a former CTU agent turned dangerous criminal due to psychological breakdown 18 months ago. Frankly, Sarah didn't really have an opinion on Jack Bauer. Right now, Sarah only viewed Jack Bauer as a dangerous fugitive.

"Where is he?" Ignoring Sarah's question, Renee shouted hysterically at Kristin as she lunged to Kristin, trying to grab Kristin by her shoulders in process. However, Sarah was able to grab Renee from her behind before she laid her hands on Kristin.

"Renee, get a hold of yourself, please!" Sarah pleading as she tried as hard as she could to restrain Renee as Renee tried to break out of her arms. Sarah was really baffled about the sudden changes in Renee's behavior. When she first met her a few hours ago, Renee was strong and courageous woman. However, a couple minutes ago Renee suddenly became crazy when she cut off Kristin Gordon's ear lobe, and now, she was acting like a hysterical victim who had just lost her love ones. Sarah began to worry about Renee's state of mind as she wondered what was going on inside Renee's head.

"Get this crazy bitch away from me!" Kristin shouted. She was terrified of Renee and hoped that Renee wouldn't torture her again for something she didn't have any idea of.

"Shut up!" Sarah shouted back to Kristin, while still trying to restraint Renee.

"Let me go! I need to find out where Jack is!" Renee shouted. At the moment, all she could think about was Jack and how to get him out of this mess. Renee was not thinking straight and she was on the verge of breakdown.

"Renee, please! I don't think Jack would want to see you like this..." Sarah pleaded desperately as she tried her hardest to restrain Renee. She thought judging by Renee's worried reactions upon hearing the name 'Jack Bauer', Jack was probably someone important to her. Therefore, Sarah decided to take a chance and used that name, hoping it will calm Renee down a bit.

What Sarah said violently snapped Renee back to reality. At the moment, he realized that she was in the process of losing it completely. Renee suddenly remembered last time she had lost it she stabbed Jack accidently. Up t this date, Renee could still feel the guilt for what she did to Jack that night even though Jack had forgiven her at that moment. She thought that she could not lose control again, not with Jack's life on the line. Slowly, Renee stopped struggling and began to calm herself down.

Upon sensing Renee beginning to calm down, Sarah loosened her grip and sighed in relief. Renee gave Sarah an apologetic look, and then she silently retreated to another room while tears flowed down her cheeks silently. Sarah, despite feeling relieved, wondered what exactly Renee's relationship with Jack Bauer was. She gathered from Renee's strange behaviour, Jack Bauer was someone important to Renee. _But what's a former FBI agent doing with a renegade ex-CTU agent like Jack Bauer...I mean, the man killed Russian foreign minister and his protection details in cold blood 18 months ago._ Sarah wondered. Suddenly, Kristin's moaning stopped Sarah's train of thoughts.

"Can you please... just get me to a hospital... my ear is still bleeding... pleased" Kristin whined and cried.

Sarah looked around the room and just as her luck had it, there was a first aid kit in the room. After Sarah got the first aid kit, she moved to Kristin's side and got ready to treat Kristin's wound. Although Sarah was still disgusted by Kristin's betrayal, she knew that right now, Kristin was a suspect in her custody and she couldn't just let Kristin bled all over the place. Also, she thought it would be a good opportunity to further question Kristin.

"What else did you do for those Russians besides passing FBI information and evidence manipulation?" Sarah asked Kristin as she opened first aid kit ready, without hiding her disgust.

"Those Russians... they also asked me to find out about a name of an agent who was on the phone with a leak from their side..." Kristin was suffering from the intense pain and bleeding. As a result, she just blabbed without thinking clearly.

Suddenly, a disturbing thought hit Sarah. _Scott had found out about Kirilenko's complicity in the nerve gas attack in Moscow through his Russian informant in New York... Could it be that the leak from the Russian's side Kristin mentioned was Scott's Russian informant, and Kristin actually gave the Russians Scott's name and info? That could explain why those Russians followed Scott to Renee's place this morning..._ The more Sarah thought about it, the more it sickened her. She couldn't believe that Kristin had a hand in Scott's death. Suddenly, rage and disgust slowly rose inside Sarah. She decided to confront Kristin about it.

"The name of the FBI agent you gave them, was it Scott?" Sarah asked angrily.

Kristin remained silent. She knew she shouldn't have said what she said before and it was too late to take it back. Kristin just shot Sarah an 'It wasn't my fault' look.

Upon realizing Kristin's silence and the somewhat guilty look confirmed Sarah's worst fear: She did told those Russians Scott's name and those Russians was able to track him down and kill him. Sarah was absolutely horrified and disgusted by the revelation. She felt her stomach twisting and she really wanted to throw up.

"How could you?" Sarah said in near hysterical fashion. "How could you?"

Kristin, however, remained in silence.

An immeasurable anger suddenly overwhelmed Sarah. She pulled out her weapon, grabbed Kristin by her collar, and then pointed her gun right at Kristin's forehead.

"Answer me damn it!" Sarah shouted as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Scott trusted you! How the hell can you do something like that to him?" Sarah then recalled the conversation Scott had with her this morning. _After you get to know her a little more you'll see that she's not as cold as she seems._ Scott's words echoed in Sarah's mind. What pained Sarah more was the cold realization that it as part of the very last conversation Scott and her had.

"I got nothing to say to you..." Kristin winced.

"You bitch!" Sarah said as she prepared to pull the trigger. Suddenly, a thought flashed before her mind. _Is this the way Scott wanted?_ Sarah could hear that the FBI agent inside her desperately pleading her not to pull the trigger and let the law handle Kristin. At the same time, Sarah also wondered could she lived such action? Those questions echoed inside her head, making a simple decision seemingly complex.

After a moment of hesitation, Sarah simply pistol-whipped Kristin with all of her strength, knocking Kristin out cold.

Afterward, Sarah turned around and walked away from Kristin. She tried to compose herself as her tears continued to flow down her cheeks. Sarah was disappointed that she wasn't able to pull the trigger. She hated Kristin for having a hand in Scott's death. The betrayal had pained her more than she imagined. Deep down, she knew that she made the right choice not killing Kristin. However, it did not make her feel any better. Sarah embraced herself and continued to cry silently.

**3:36:52**

**Polyakov's Ranch**

Jack thought about what the old man in front of him said. His story sounded legit, but Jack knew the best lies were often the ones with half truths in them. Therefore, he didn't completely buy Polyakov's story. Jack decided to call Chloe to have her check out what Polyakov said. Polyakov understanded Jack's concern and allowed Jack to make the call.

"Chloe, it's Jack."

"Jack, have you find Polyakov?"

"Yeah. I'm with him right now... he actually told me that his current name is an alias and his real name is Oleg Doletskaya. He also said he was a GRU Colonel who had worked with Kirilenko in the past. I wanted you to double check to see if he's telling the truth... and I also need you to check the wireless communications coming out of Russian Consulate. According to Polyakov, Kirilenko is also looking for someone other than Polyakov, and I want to know who that someone is" Jack ordered.

"Jack, I running the background check on Oleg Doletskaya now...And about monitoring the wireless communications coming in and out of Russian Consulate, those communications are heavily encrypted and even if I know the type of encryption they use, it could still take days just to crack it..." Chloe said awkwardly. She hated to tell Jack that there was something she actually could not do in his time frame.

"If I remember correctly, Russian Consulate probably still uses the Odessa III encryption for their communications. Tell whoever is on the line with you to try to find a way to crack that, and then we should find out who this other person Nicholai is going after." Polyakov tried to insert himself into the Jack's phone conversation with Chloe.

"Chloe, did you hear that?"

"Jack, the Odessa III encryption is notoriously hard to crack... but I'll see what I can do." Chloe said. She didn't want to disappoint Jack.

"Ok, call me when you have something." Jack hanged up the phone and directed his attention back to Polyakov again. "If you said you were his mentor, why does he want to kill you?" Jack asked curiously.

Polyakov sighed. "It all started 10 years ago, when we both were serving in GRU. One day, I found that someone had been misappropriating a huge amount of GRU funding and resources. It was done under the disguise of over sea logistic support so no one will question or look into it. I was able to dig deeper into this matter. It turns out that Nicholai was the one who had been misappropriating the government resources. Just like I had taught him, he left little to none paper trails. However, he couldn't fool me. I was angry when I found out about his dirty little secret... he should have known better..." Polyakov said bitterly. He paused for a moment to reflect the time he had worked side by side with Kirilenko. He often explained to him about the intelligence and counter-intelligence techniques. Kirilenko was always sharp enough to pick the knowledge up very quickly, not to mention he also was able to build upon what he had learned. It pained Polaykov to recall those memories he had with Kirilenko. As a result, he poured himself another cup of Scotch and drank it all in one swoop before he continued.

"I planned to take this matter to the upper echelon of the government. However, the very next day when I was on my way to GRU headquarter, FSB intercepted me and arrested me on the charge of corruption. They said that I had been misappropriating government funding and they showed one of my bank accounts, which mysteriously had a number of suspicious deposits. Fortunately, I still had some sway at FSB at the time so I was able to...how should I put this... wiggle my way out of the legal troubles." Polyakov said as he let out a slight chuckle, but chuckle only lasted a second. "I realized that it was Nicholai's maneuvering in order to get me off the case on his illegal exploits. That was when I also realized that he had more people, powerful people, in his pocket than I had ever thought. I knew I was marked for death after that day. Therefore, I decided to...get out of the country. I managed to fly to Britain. Using my old connections within MI-6, I arranged a deal with your CIA. I gave them some documents they were dying to get their hands on at the time. Nothing on Russia's internal securities of course, it was some SVR and GRU intels on other countries. In return, I asked CIA to fake my death and give me a new identity in US. I even asked them for plastic surgeries to completely change my facial features, and they gave all of those to me... "Polyakov narrated.

"So Kirilenko wants you dead because you found out he was stealing GRU funds?" Jack asked.

"I wish it was that simple..." Polyakov sighed.

"How's so?"

"During my investigation at that time, I managed to dig deep enough and learned why Nicholai's stole those funds. He had actually used those fundings to build and manage a secret chemical weapon research and production facility in Kazakhstan. It turned out that plant was producing a new type of VX variant which was nicknamed 'Silent Night'. It was rumoured that Nicholai seemed to be planning to sell the nerve gas to some, let's just say, 'very angry individuals'. I was not able to pursuit this matter further. "Polyakov said bitterly. "I had left what I have known in the part of my memory I don't want to visit again. However, as fate has it, the terrorist attack in Moscow happened three weeks ago awakened that part of my memory. You see, back in the old days, Nicholai and I used to discuss mock up plans on launching disrupted attacks in major American cities in case of a war between US and Russia, over several bottles of vodka. One of plans Nicholai came up with involves nerve gas attacks on major traffic veins of a city. When the so-called terrorist attack happened in Moscow, my gut was telling me that Nicholai had something to do with it. The attack had his signature written all over it... a well coordinated and synchronized attack with nerve gas weren't something that those IRK amateurs could pulled off. Besides, I also found out about the type of nerve gas used in the attack. It was 'Silent Night', and only Nicholai has the access to that. Therefore, I'm sure he had a hand in that attack, and somehow, he found about me living in US. Therefore, he is cleaning house so no one would expose his complicity in that terrorist attack..."

Jack was a bit shocked by this new revelation, but he wasn't completely surprised by it. He thought if Kirilenko willing to let IRK President to be assassinated as well as a radiological bomb to be detonated in downtown Manhattan, Jack wouldn't put conducting nerve gas attack in Moscow past Kirilenko.

"So I'm guessing Kirilenko and his hard-liner allies wants to frame IRK for the attack so they could go to war with IRK. But what does Kirilenko has to gain from a war with IRK? Money?" Jack asked.

"Nicholai is always ambitious, but sometimes, he is too ambitious for his own good." Polyakov said distastefully. "He is always willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants. This attribute makes him an excellent GRU officer, but at the times, he goes too far. There are certain lines you just don't cross... but Nicholai, he does not care... He has always wanted more power and influence. Unlike other dreamers, Nicholai knows he cannot have the power and the influence he desires without the money. From what I heard, he actually has shares in the oil and natural gas pipeline in that region. If there is a war between Russia and IRK, Russia Navy will easily control the Caspian Sea, which means Nicholai can easily seize control of the entire pipelines in that region. By then, he would have more money and resources to do whatever the hell he wants... like launching a coup against Suvurov or just buy his way into the Kremlin..."

"Why didn't you tell Russian authority about this? The information you have could help to stop a war!" Jack questioned Polyakov sharply.

"If I told Russian authority about what I know, the Russian authority will know that their GRU traitor, Colonel Oleg Doletskaya, is still alive. They will imprison me or worse, execute me... I'm an old and selfish man, Mr. Bauer. I'd like to die comfortably on my own bed rather than inside some gulag in Siberia..."

Jack somehow disgusted by Polyakov's selfish behavior. He thought that Polyakov was being a selfish bastard because rather than doing the right thing, he was willing to let a war between Russian and IRK happen just to save his own ass. At the same time, Jack also thought about what Polyakov said. It seemed that Polyakov was telling the truth about his history with Kirilenko. Therefore, he was probably telling the truth about the mysterious woman who Kirilenko was also after. Jack decided that before he takes up on Polyakov's offer, he would like to know who this mysterious woman is. In fact, his instinct kept telling him to find out more about this mysterious woman.

"Right now, before I agree to your proposition, I want to know who this woman is." Jack said coldly.

"Of course, I guess now we wait for either my contact inside the Consulate or your mission support. In the meantime, I guess if we're gonna be working together, maybe we need to get to know each other a little better, huh?" Polaykov mused. However, Jack remained silent and his face remained emotionless.

**3:46:17**

**Abandoned Garage**

After Sarah treated Kristin's wound, she thought that Kristin might had some information on her phone so she went through Kirstin's purse, Sarah found out that Kristin had two phones: One for work and other one for communicating with Kirilenko. As Sarah went through contents on both phones, she found out that Kristin was at least smart enough to do some homework on Kirilenko. There was some bank information on Kristin's work phone. Sarah suspected that it was probably Kristin's bargaining chip in case her business arrangement with Kirilenko was discovered by the authorities. Sarah thought that and the phone she used to contact Kirilenko would be enough to nail Kristin. Therefore, she decided to inform Renee on what she had found, in addition, to check up on Renee.

After Sarah went into the adjoining room where Renee was in, she saw Renee sitting down against a wall with her arms folded around her knees. Renee had buried her forehead in her lap. From the looks of it, she had been crying for a while. After seeing how broken Renee was, Sarah became more and more sympathetic to Renee. Sarah knew that he must have been someone important to Renee from Renee's reaction to Jack's name. Sarah thought that she needed to let the FBI know Jack Bauer was being framed by those Russians for the assassination that occurred this morning. However, she also knew that Jack killed the late Russian foreign minister 18 months ago, which meant even if they cleared jack's name, he still had to face his past crime in the eye of the law. Sarah really hoped the whole situation with Jack Bauer would resolve peacefully so Renee would not lose someone she deeply cared about. Therefore, she decided to talk to Renee about that. However, Sarah really didn't know how to discuss with Renee without upsetting her even more.

"Hey...Un...I went through the information on Kristin's phone. There are records indicate she had been talking to Kirilenko. We got her." Sarah said softly and awkwardly.

Renee looked up. Despite the somewhat good news, she only gave Sarah a sad, empty look. She acknowledging she knew what Sarah said before she buried her head in her lap again. Right now, Renee was thinking about Jack. She didn't know where Jack was in L.A. She didn't know how to find him, not to mention help him get out of this mess. Right now, she loathed herself for being so useless.

"We now got evidence that proves Kristin was working with the Russians. I think we can find more evidences on her computer, especially that since Kirilenko wants her to manipulate the evidence related to the assassination of the IRK foreign minister...Therefore, I think we should go to the FBI. With resources of the FBI, I can help both you and Jack Bauer..." Sarah proposed sincerely.

Renee raised her head again, and simply looked at Sarah with a profound sadness on her face. She knew she had to do something to help Jack, but she didn't know how. By going to the FBI, Renee knew she could get Jack to come in without an incident before he did something even crazier or getting himself killed. However, that would also mean that Jack would be arrested for what he did 18 months ago, hence facing serious charges. Renee still thought it was her fault that Jack became an international fugitive. _If I hadn't dragged him into that undercover operation...If I had spot that Russian disguised as an EMT at the scene of President Hassan's murder... _Those were the thought Renee continuously echoed in her mind

Sarah noticed the sad look on Renee's face. She could already guess the reason. "I know that you worried about him and probably don't want him to go to jail, but it's not your fault. He made his choice..."Sarah stated.

"I should be the one going to jail ... I ruined his life..." Renee said somberly. "He was supposed to be in California with his granddaughter 18 months ago...because of me... he is now a fugitive from the law...I made such a mess of everything..." Renee was already on a guilt trip where no one could seem to get her off it.

"How's so?" Sarah asked confusedly.

"If it wasn't for me, Jack wouldn't have been in CTU in that day..." Renee explained very briefly. She didn't want to revisit the awful memories of that day. Seeing Vladimir Laitanan again, almost killing Jack, dying on the operating table. Those memories had haunted her since that day.

"So... was he part of the CTU's effort trying to rescue President Hassan?"Sarah thought that if Jack Bauer was in CTU that day, he could very well be involved in the operation of such importance.

"Yes..." Renee said in an almost inaudible voice.

Suddenly, a thought appeared inside Sarah's head. Since both Renee and Jack Bauer were working with CTU at that day. Sarah's intuition told her that it was possible Renee's relationship with Jack Bauer was beyond a professional one. "Um... Is he with you when you were shot by that Russian operative 18 months ago?" Sarah took a wild guess.

Renee nodded somberly. Suddenly, the memory of that instance replayed in her mind again. The memories of her answering Jack's phone, her getting shot by the Russian sniper, and Jack tried to carry her to hospital haunted her. All Renee could do was bury her head into her lap again as she embraced her legs even tighter. As her mind played through those memories, Renee could felt the burning, agonizing pain inside her chest again.

Upon seeing Renee broke down even further, Sarah felt like an idiot for bringing that up. She could guess what had happened. She thought it was possible that Jack Bauer thought Renee was dead, and he figured out the Russians were behind it. As a result, went on a revenge rampage against the Russians, hence killing the late Russian foreign minister. Sarah closed her eyes and sighed. _Things people can do when they are madly in love..._ Sarah thought.

"Look, Renee, it's not your fault. You can't blame yourself for something that's beyond your control. Besides, it's those Russians who shot you and forced you into hiding. Jack probably did what he thought was justified after he thought you were dead..." Sarah stated, attempting to make Renee feel better.

Sarah then paused for a moment and sighed. "It's tough losing someone close to you... You know, just moments ago, I almost execute Kristin after I found out she had a hand in Scott's death... I don't know what came over me... but at that moment, I really want to pull the trigger... because I know that bitch is gonna try to make a deal to avoid prosecution... and there will no justice for Scott because of that..." Sarah said bitterly as she tried to hold herself together from the pain and the cold realization that her partner, Scott, was gone. "... but I couldn't... maybe it's because it's not what Scott's would wanted, or maybe I just don't have what it takes... either way, I still felt terrible..." Sarah whined as tears clouded her eyes.

Renee raised her head up again and looked at Sarah with her teary eyes. She sympathized with Sarah's situation. "I wish I could tell you how to deal with the pain...but to be honest, I... I don't really know..."

"Is that why you did what you did to that Wilson guy? Did you lose someone close to you because of him?"

Renee simply nodded silently and somberly as she recalled what happened in that interrogation room. After seeing Renee's somber expression, Sarah acknowledged that. Although she didn't get the complete picture, Sarah had great empathy on what Renee had gone through at those moments. Both women simply sat in silence.

After Renee composed herself a bit, she decided that Sarah's suggestion had some merits. Jack would be facing charges, but at least, he would be safe from those Russians and most importantly, from himself. She couldn't let Jack do more insane stuffs because of her. "Alright, we will go to the FBI. But I need you to promise me that FBI has to take Jack in alive. Can you do that?"

"I will." Sarah said with determination. She wanted the whole situation to resolve peacefully. Plus, she owned Renee for saving her life twice and she was not about to turn down a simple and reasonable promise.

"Okay. I think I can get Jack to come in voluntarily before he tries to get himself killed out there. Once we arrived in FBI field office I want you to help me find a woman named Chloe O'Brian. Last time I heard she got arrested for helping Jack Bauer escaping the country. She probably knows where Jack is. If she knows I'm alive, Jack will know too." Renee said. She was unaware that Chloe was also in Los Angeles.

"Okay." Sarah nodded in agreement. Upon hearing that there was a way to resolve the situation peacefully, Sarah became more relieved. With Kristin exposed and the possibility of Jack Bauer coming in voluntarily, Sarah thought she could put the past few hours of nightmare behind her and focused on helping Renee expose the Russian conspiracy.

Both woman got up and went into the room where Kristin was being held. Kristin was slowly waking up after being knocked out cold by Sarah. Renee lose the handcuffs on Kristin and got ready to move Kristin to the car as Sarah covered both of them. Both women really hoped they would not encounter any problem on their way to the FBI field office.

**3:57:32**

**Polyakov's Ranch**

After being told and threaten repeatedly that he would not go to the police about this incident, Josef finally let Alexander Pazinhov go. Pazinhov quickly got into his SUV and drove away from the main house as fast as he could. He wanted to leave that place and go back to check to see if his wife and daughter were still alright. However, he would have to explain to them why they could not go to the police, because if they did, the authorities would found out his business relationship with Polyakov, hence putting his family in greater danger. Therefore, he decided to chuck up the encounter with Jack Bauer as part of risk doing business with a mobster. Pazinhov was extremely relieved that his family was not harmed and he was still alive.

After he stopped at the front gate of the ranch, Pazinhov saw the same guard that let him and Jack Bauer in earlier opened the gate for him. As he waited impatiently for the guard to open the gate, all of the sudden, Pazinhov saw red mist coming out of the guard's head before the guard fell down to the ground. He then noticed a small red dot dancing around his chest. Before he could realize what was going on, several bullets rip through his front windshield and made their ways into his body.

Hiding near the small forest on the side of the road, Lovonski was satisfied that he took out the guard and the person inside the outbound SUV without drawing any attention. Holding a G36K assault rifle outfitted with foregrip, suppressor, laser aiming module, and ACOG (Advanced Combat Optic Gunsight), Lovonski scanned the area again through his ACOG scope. The area was clear.

"All teams, the front gate is clear. Move in." Lovonski said in a cold and professional manner.

After hearing Lovonski's order, all 22 of Lovonski's men, armed with suppressed G36C assault rifle with foregrips, ACOGs, and laser aiming modules came out from the wooded areas on both side of the road. All of those men were wearing black balaclavas, outfits with woodland camouflage, and tactical vest filled with G36 magazines. As they moved passed the front gate, they fanned out in three teams and began advancing deeper into the ranch with the goal of killing everyone in the area...

**03:59:57...03:59:58...03:59:59...04:00:00**

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**Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

_**Some random reflections:**_

_**1. Renee and Sarah's interactions:**__ Again, I actually stuck on this part for a quite a long time. I had lost count on how many times I re-wrote that part. I really hope I get Renee's character right in that scene and I also hope the conversations between Renee and Sarah don't sounds unnatural or strange. As for Renee's badassery goes, I hope I didn't really go overboard with it in this chapter as well as the last chapter. I mean, she did cut Ziya's thumb off (while somewhat calm about it...)_

_**2. Lovonski's small army of commandos:**__ Overkill? Well, I kinda want to create a situation where Jack is really in deep trouble, and having a small army of commandos tries to siege the place he is in seems like an idea. Besides, it seemed like with exception of Season 8, 24 villains always had endless supply of henchmen/mooks so I thought giving Lovonski a small army shouldn't be stretching too much. Besides, he is going against the legendary badass named Jack Bauer so I guess he needs all the help he can get (LOL)._

_**3. Odessa III encryption**__: It's something I made up... It's not a real encryption algorithm :)_


	10. 4:00PM 5:00PM

_**Author's note:**_

_Again, thank you guys for the awesome reviews! You guys rock :)_

_Whew...finally finished the chapter :). I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter out. I was quite busy with other life obligations. I also need to confess that I kinda slacked off a lot while I was working on this chapter (Watching "The Office' re-runs...o_O). Hopefully my slacking off didn't affect the quality of this chapter (fingers crossed). Again, the future chapter might be published at a slower pace due to planning (I still need to plan out the future chapters)._

_I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. 'nuff said let's roll the tape!_

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**Previously on 24**

Renee Walker interrogated Kristin Gordon and was able to found out that Jack Bauer was being framed for the assassination of IRK foreign minister. As a result, Renee broke down and blamed herself for what was happening to Jack. At the same time, Special Agent Sarah Ferris also found out that Kristin had a hand in her partner's demise. She decided to take the matter into her own hands but relented at the last second. Meanwhile, Jack learned more about Kirilenko from Polyakov, who urged Jack to work with him to take down Kirilenko. Jack also learned that Kirilenko seemed to be after a mysterious woman. At the same time, Lovonski and his men arrived at the ranch and began laying siege to Polyakov's house.

**The following takes place between 4:00PM and 5:00PM**

**4:01:49**

After conversing with Jack over the phone, Chloe diligently tried to think of ways to crack the Odessa III encryption which was used for encrypting Russian Consulate's wireless communication. Although she did not want to let Jack down, Chloe felt the task was a bit impossible. As she scrambled her head trying to figure out a way to crack the encryption, she became a little bit frustrated. Suddenly, her phone rang. After she saw the caller ID, Chloe answered it without missing a beat. It was Morris O'Brian calling from London.

"Honey..." Morris O'Brian said worriedly. "Are you okay? Where are you? I called home and you aren't there. Both FBI and CTU have been calling me and asked your where about..."

"Morris, I'm fine. I'm at the Santa Clarita place helping Jack..." Chloe told Morris honestly. She did not want to lie to Morris. Besides, she trusted Morris completely. "You didn't you tell them anything, did you?"

"Of course not. I told them that you are probably out meeting with clients. I also gave them the dummy contact info when they asked for it...honey... what did Jack do this time?" Morris asked in a curious way. Chloe actually told Morris about what Jack did 18 months ago and why he did what he did. Morris definitely sympathized with Jack's situation. However, Morris also worried about Chloe. She actually got arrested and went to prison for helping Jack. Morris still thought Chloe was lucky that she only have to serve a reduced sentence in a minimum security prison. He did not want Chloe to get arrested and go to jail again, or worse, getting herself into some very danger situations because of Jack.

"Jack is being framed for the assassination of IRK foreign minister this morning. I'm helping him clearing his name." Chloe said truthfully.

"What? Who would frame him? And why is he in L.A.? I thought he was suppose to be out of the country after what he did 18 months ago?" Morris asked curiously. Suddenly, a thought came cross Morris's mind. "He didn't ask you to do anything dangerous didn't you? Honey, we've been through this. I know he's your friend and he saved my life, but I don't want you to risk your life because of him... and I don't want Prescott to grow up without his mother..."

"Morris, what I'm doing right now is no different than what I did in CTU." Chloe said as she became a bit annoyed. She knew that Jack would never ask her to risk her life. Most of time, Jack asked Chloe for tech support when he was on a mission. "Besides, no one knows about this location and the security software you installed should prevent anyone from finding out where I am..."

Although they were talking over the phone, Morris could feel that Chloe was a bit annoyed by his over protectiveness. Despite Chloe's assurance, Morris still couldn't help but to get worried, but he also knew that when it came to his wife's best friend, her mind was already made up. As a result, the only thing he could do was to remain supportive.

"Alright, is there anything I can help you and Jack with?" Morris asked. He thought if he could help Chloe resolve the situation quickly, the less danger Chloe would be in.

"I've been trying to figure out a way to crack an encryption. Odessa III encryption to be specific..."

"Ah...the infamous Odessa III encryption." Morris half-chuckled. "Just so happened I worked with that type of encryption before. It many years ago and what I did with it was somewhat borderline illegal... anyway, I know there's a way to decrypt the encryption. Can you send me what you have?" Morris said as he powered up his laptop.

"I'm sending a sample to you now." Chloe replied. At the moment she was glad that she got Morris on her side.

**4:06:36**

As one of Polyakov's men was patrolling the perimeter of the ranch, all of the sudden, he heard some strange sounds coming from nearby wooded area. It sounded like leaves ruffling. As expected, he readied his AKM assault rifle and moved closer to check out the disturbance. As he moved through the glade, the man failed to notice that Lovonski was there besides him in prone position. Lovonski was covered with a ghillie blanket cover, which made him completely unnoticeable in the wooded area. Once Lovonski saw the man already walked pasted him, he quickly and silently rose up. Swiftly, Lovonski sneaked behind the man, covered the man's mouth with his left hand, and then jammed his combat knife into the man's back. Lovonski then quickly laid the body down on the ground and covered the body with the ghillie blanket. After that, Lovonski ordered his men to move up. He then aimed his suppressed G36K assault rifle at the open field of the ranch. Through the ACOG (Advanced Combat Optic Gunsights) mounted on his suppressed assault rifle, Lovonski saw three of Polyakov's men standing beside each other, conversing. From the look of it, those three men were taking a smoke break from their guard duties, and two of the guards were finishing up their smokes and beginning to return to their respective posts.

"Two, this is one. I got three guards in my sight. Two of the guards were leaving, have you got visual?" Lovonski said to the leader of team two, through his radio. Both team 1 and team 2 consisted of 8 people each, including Lovonski. Team 3, lead by Sergeant Pushkin, only consisted of 6 people and they served both as the security for the outer most perimeter and as backup unit.

"One, this is two. We have visual on two of the guards. "Team 2 leader reported through his radio as he looked down his ACOG scope mounted on his suppressed G36C assault rifle. As team 2 leader aimed the crosshair and red-dot inside his ACOG at one of the strolling guard, one of team 2 member also aimed his assault rifle at the other guard.

"Two. Engage those two on my mark." Lovonski ordered. He wanted to wait for those two guards to move away from the other guard whom he was currently aiming at. He wanted to snipe that guard without drawing attention from the other two. Once he noticed that the guard who was currently inside his scope turned around after other two guards started walking away, Lovonski pulled the trigger and the suppressed assault rifle let out a muffled gunshot. Red mist exploded out of the guard's torso as the bullet travelled through it.

"Weapons free." Lovonski then ordered.

Oblivious to what happened to their buddy whom they just talked to couple seconds before, the two guards continued walking and conversing with each other. Suddenly, one of the guard noticed his buddy beside him suddenly dropped down to the ground as red mist exploded out of his chest. Before he realized what happened, a bullet found its mark inside his head.

"One, this is two. Both guards are history." Team 2 leader reported.

"All teams, move out." Lovonski said as he and the rest of team 1 emerged from the wooded area and moving towards the main house carefully. After receiving Lovonski's order, team 2 also emerged from wooded areas and advanced toward the main house. Team 3 also advanced toward the open field , following behind team 2. Right now, all 22 heavily armed men were on the open field. They advanced toward the main house carefully in line abreast formation.

Meanwhile, Josef was radioing the guards outside for a routine status check, but all he had got was statics. Baffled, Josef moved to one of the window and looked outside. Just as he got close to the window, he noticed there were heavily armed commandos approaching the house. Shocked by what he had seen, Josef quickly ran to Polyakov's study. Without knocking the door, Josef just opened the door in a rush. He saw Polyakov sitting at his desk and Jack Bauer sitting opposite of Polyakov.

"Mr. Polyakov, there were armed men outside of the house!" Josef shouted in somewhat panicky tone.

Polyakov could already guess that it was not the police. Those armed men were definitely Kirilenko's men. _How the hell did they find me?_ Polyakov thought. At the same time, Jack was alerted by the development as well. He was also thinking how Kirilenko found this place as well.

Suddenly, Josef brandished his IMI Uzi submachine gun and pointed at Jack. "He must have led them there!" Josef said angrily. He didn't know who the person sitting in front of his boss, so naturally, he suspected the guy whom he didn't recognized.

"Josef, lower your weapon!" Polyakov shouted.

Josef was unsure of his boss's order, but he complied nevertheless. He did not want to second guess Polyakov's decision, even if he was unsure of it. He also thought that if Polyakov trusted this mysterious guest who had suddenly showed up inside the house, then it meant he could probably trust this mysterious guest too.

"Mr. Bauer, seems like we are in a predicament. Regardless of how we got there, we might need each other's help if we want stay alive. If you help me make it out of here alive, I will give you the name of contact I have inside the Russian Consulate." Polyakov said as Josef lowered his submachine gun at Jack. He thought about the possibility of Jack leaving him here,so Polyakov decided to grease Jack's wheel a little bit by offering Jack the name of his contact.

Jack knew Polyakov was right. He had to work with him on this if they wanted to get out of the situation alive. "Right now we are surrounded and outgunned. If those were Kirilenko's men, they will try to set up a perimeter around the house and synchronize their attack." Jack said to both Polyakov and Josef. From his experience, Russian special force was trained to siege locations by surrounding, advancing, and synchronizing their attacks. Their discipline made them notoriously difficult to escape from, but it also made their tactics predictable.

"So what is your plan?" Polyakov also knew the tactics of Russian special force. He recalled when he was younger he was usually the one that applied these tactics in the field. Now he couldn't help but to feel the irony that he was now at the receiving end of these tactics.

"Where's your kitchen?"

"Down that way. I will start sanitizing the records. " Josef said as he tried to delete sensitive files inside Polyakov's laptop on the desk. Polyakov had instructed Josef and his men that in case of being surrounded by the authorities, they needed to erase every evidence that would incriminate them.

"Good. Meet us once you have done so." Polyakov said as he headed to the kitchen with Jack. Right now Polyakov thought it was not only about erasing incriminating evidence. Right now it was also about leaving no bread crumbs for Kirilenko's men to track him down.

Once Jack and Polyakov made their way into the kitchen, Jack quickly holstered his USP Compact pistol and moved in front of a microwave. He quickly opened the drawer and cabinet below the microwave and took out various dining utensils, tools, and house hold cleaning supplies. "I need some cans or glass containers." Jack ordered.

"I hope you are not cooking a meal for them." Polyakov said sarcastically as he opened the pantry door and took out cans of preserved foods.

Jack ignored what Polyakov said as he pried open the thin metal cover on the left side of the microwave oven using a small hammer he just found inside the drawer. He quickly ripped off the surge inhibitor, and then he started shoving dining utensils, tools, cleaning supplies, and cans of preserved foods into the microwave.

Polyakov simply let out a faint laugh after he realized what Jack was doing. He knew Jack Bauer only by reputation, but he was quite amazed at his resourcefulness and his ability to think on his feet after he saw Jack what was doing.

After Jack loaded the microwave with those items, he simply closed the microwave's door and put the microwave to the floor. Jack then set the timer and the microwave started heating up the items inside it. Afteward, Jack noticed there were movements outside of house from the kitchen window. _Damn it_ _Kirilenko's men were preparing to breach._ Jack thought.

"Damn it, we gotta move." Jack said as he pulled out his USP Compact pistol. Kirilenko's men were advancing faster than he had thought. Jack was sure that Kirilenko's men probably already got entry-teams covering all exits. Jack and Polyakov quickly moved to the other exit which was on the east side of the house. Once they arrived, Jack and Polyakov quickly leaned against the wall beside the door. Jack then readied his weapon.

Meanwhile, Lovonski had ordered team 2 to prepare for breach and entry. Team 2 then spitted into four separated two men team. The four separated two men team spread out and covered all of the house's major entrances. After all teams arrived at their respective entry points, each two men team began stacking up against their respective entry points, and now they waited for the Lovonski's order.

"Two, go!" Lovonski ordered after he ordered three of team 1's commandos to move closer to the house to provide backup form team 2. All of the two men team in team 2 swiftly opened the doors and aggressively stormed into the house with their weapons raised.

One of the two men team quickly stormed the east entrance of the house. One commando opened the door and prepared to storm the house in full force. As he enter the house through that door, the commando did not notice Jack was on the left of him. Without any warning, Jack shot the commando once in his left leg, and twice in his torso, which causing the commando to fall sideways to his right. Just as the first commando fell down on the floor, the second commando stormed into the house. However, just as he entered the house, Jack grabbed the second commando's G36C assault rifle and tilted it upward with his left hand, while shoving his pistol into the second commando's body and delivered two shots into his body. All of Jack's actions were done in one swift motion. As Jack threw the dead body of second commando down on the floor and began to scavenge the G36C assault rifle and extra magazines from the dead commando, Polyakov also did the same as he fished out a full sized USP pistol out of one of dead commandos' holster, along with some extra magazines for the pistol from one of pouches. All of the sudden, Josef showed up in front of them. Just as Josef showed up, Jack and Polyakov pointed their newly scavenged weapons at Josef. Once they realized it was Josef they lowered their weapons slightly. Polyakov shot Josef an 'Oh it's you' look.

"Mr. Polyakov, I erased our records and burned most of documents in the fire place..." Josef said. At the moment Josef finished his sentence, several bullets hit Josef in the back and Josef fell down to the floor face first. Jack realized what had happened so he lay down against a dead commando's body and using it as cover. He raised his weapon over the dead commando's body and fired at those two commando's direction. Polyakov, on the other hand, retreated behind a wall as bullets flew past him. Polyakov then blindfired his USP pistol at those commandos. During the exchange, Jack was able to shot one of the commandos in his leg. As a result, those two commandos quickly retreated behind covers.

"Targets are at the east entrance!" The wounded commandos reported via his radio as he limped behind the wall. He then sat down against the wall and applied pressure on the bullet wound on his right thigh. He thought the bullet hit the artery as blood continued gushing out of his wound. As a result, he was out of the fight.

Meanwhile, two commandos entered the kitchen and two others also entered the kitchen from different direction as well. They noticed something strange inside the kitchen: a microwave on a ground and something was cooking inside it. Just as those four commandos disregarded the microwave and continued to sweep the area. All of the sudden, they heard the sound of electric crackling. Before they realized what was going on, the microwave on the floor exploded. Accompanying the huge explosion, various utensils, tools, iron and glass shrapnel that was inside the microwave flew out in every direction. Two of the commandos were unfortunate enough to be caught inside the explosion radius. The force from the explosion effectively killed them and sent their bodies flying. One of them literally flew out of the kitchen window. The other two, despite being at the edge the explosion radius, the make-shift shrapnel and kitchen utensils travelling at high velocity slammed into both commandos' bodies. The combined force of explosion and make-shift shrapnel also sent those two commandos flying backward. They were dead before they even hit the floor.

The explosion in the west side of the house made the commandos from team 2 dropped to the prone position instinctively. Afterward, they got up and prepared to assault the east entrance of the house, trying to intercept both Jack and Polyakov.

"The targets are exiting the house through the east side entrance. Hunt them down!" Lovonski shouted to his radio as he got up from the ground. Upon receiving the order, every commando on team 2 advanced toward the east side of the house.

At the same time, Jack thought those commandos probably still got the house surrounded. Therefore, they had no choice but to blast their way out.

"We will have to make our way to that small garage on the south east. I will go out and clear the perimeter first. Cover my six and wait for my go." Jack said in his no non-sense tone as he injected his empty magazine and inserted another into his G36C assault rifle.

"_da._" Polykov imply replied in Russian.

"Go!" Jack said. As he heard what Jack said, Polyakov popped out from his cover and fired at the direction of those two commandos again. Just as Polyakov covering his six o'clock, Jack got up, raised his G36C assault rifle and stepped out of the door. At the same time, Polyakov managed to kill the other one just before he ran out of the bullet. Polyakov then quickly reloaded his pistol.

Just as Jack stepped out of the door, several bullets flew past him and hitting the wooden wall of the house, sending several tiny wooden debris flying. Jack noticed those shots were coming from his 10 o'clock direction so he quickly turned to that direction and engaged the commando who was currently firing at him. After three shots, Jack dropped the commando and turned around to hug the wall again. He quickly moved to the corner of the house and noticed two more commandos coming around the corner. Those commandos were firing at him as they advanced. Without any hesitation, Jack popped out of the corner with the G36C assault rifle and engaged those two commandos. Efficiently, after firing two shots killing the commando close to the house, Jack shifted his aim at the second commando and squeezed the trigger. Jack's bullets travelled through the second commando as red mist exploded out of the commando's body.

"Go!" Jack shouted as he fired his weapon at the advancing commandos coming from the sout west of the house.

Just after Jack gave the go order, Polyakov stepped out of the house. He quickly dashed towards the small garage, while firing his pistol at the commandos where advancing and shooting at him at the same time. The weapon fire from those commandos kicked up a lot of dirt around Polyakov as he ran towards the small garage.

In front of the barn on the south west of the house, although Lovonski noticed an old man running toward a small garage couple yards in front of him, he and his team could not rush toward the small garage because they were currently taking fire from Jack. Lovonski and his men noticed that Jack was shooting from around the corner of the house. Naturally, Lovonski and his team returned fire at Jack's direction. As the firefight continued, a lot of dirt also got kicked up around Lovonski and his men as bullets flew past them. Lovonski quickly ordered two of his men to move toward the other side of the small garage to intercept the old men while he and two others kept the pressure on Jack. He also ordered team 3 to advance to the small garage from the garage's south east side as well.

Just as Polyakov moved to the back of the garage, he noticed two men couple yards in front of him were advancing and shooting at him as well. Fortunately for Polyakov, there were some large un-chopped firewood in front of him so he crouched behind those. Those un-chopped firewoods blocked some of the commandos' shots. Without any hesitation, he quickly popped out his cover and engaged those two commandos. Polyakov managed to shoot one commando in the head and another in his chest, killing them both.

Once Jack saw Polyakov made it to the back of the garage, he quickly dashed toward the small garage. The hail of bullets from Lovonski and his men kicked up a lot of dirt around Jack as he dashed toward the small garage. Once he met up with Polyakov behind the garage, Jack injected the spent magazine and quickly inserted another fresh one into the G36C assault rifle.

At the same time, two men from team 3 arrived at Lovonski's position. The rest of team 3 were advancing toward Jack and Polyakov's position from the small garage's south east.

Hugging the wall, Jack moved down to the corner of the small garage and took a peek from that corner. He saw a group of approximately three commandos at the barn a few hundred yards from the small garage he was currently positioned. They were firing at his direction. As hails of bullets continued to rain down at his direction, Jack noticed two more commandos met up with those three to reinforce their numbers. Jack also recognized one of those commandos in front of the barn was that Russian operative he interrogated earlier, since that operative was not wearing balaclava. In addition, Jack also noticed that there was a 500 gallon propane tank beside the barn. The propane tank was not far from those commandos.

"Now what?" Polyakov asked.

"We gonna have to make a run for the tree line. Just follow my lead. You ready?" Jack turned his head around to Polyakov and said.

"_da_!" Polyakov answered.

Just after Polyakov responded, Jack popped out around the corner, aimed his assault rifle at the giant propane tank that was beside the barn, and fired a couple shots at it. The propane tank then exploded into a giant ball of fire, engulfing everything in its blast radius, including most of the commandos near the propane tank. Lovonski was among the unlucky commandos who caught inside the blast radius. The force from the explosion hit Lovonski's body like a freight train as flame engulfed his body completely. The other commandos also suffered similar fate as the force from the explosion also sent their flaming bodies flying. Although one of commandos was outside of the blast radius, the shockwave from the explosion still knocked him down to the ground.

After the propane tank exploded, Jack rushed out from the corner of the small garage and advanced toward the tree line beyond the barn. He wanted to clear the area to make sure there was no strangler left. Polyakov acknowledged that and stayed behind the small garage. As Jack quickly advanced toward to the tree line, he noticed a commando in front of him who was still trying to get back up on his feet. The disoriented commando saw Jack and he tried to pull his pistol out. Without any hesitation, Jack shot the commando twice in his chest as he advanced toward the tree line. After he killed the commando, Jack continued moving until he reached the tree line. He then quickly got behind the first tree he saw and used it as cover.

"Go!" Jack shouted as he covered the path to the tree line with the G36C assault rifle. After seeing Jack made it safely to the tree line and there were no commandos in front of him, Polyakov quickly dashed for the tree line.

Meanwhile, the remaining team 3 arrived near the small garage. Sergeant Pushkin saw an old man running toward the tree line. _That old man must be Polyakov._ Pushkin thought. Therefore, he took aim at the running old man with his G36C assault rifle and fired his weapon.

As Polyakov was running toward the tree line, all of the sudden, he felt a great pain on left lower back. Before he realized he had been shot in his back, in a split of a second, another bullet hit the back of his left thigh. As a result, he felt down to the ground face first. Despite being knocked down, Polyakov still tried to crawl his way toward the tree line.

"Damn it!" Jack shouted, and then he quickly aimed his assault rifle at Pushkin's direction in order to cover Polyakov. Desperately, Jack fired his weapon, hoping he could get them all before they killed Polyakov. After sensing they were under fire, Pushkin and the other 3 commandos quickly took cover behind the small garage. After Pushkin took cover around the corner of the small garage, he popped out from the corner and returned fire at Jack's direction. Jack retreated back behind the tree as bullets slammed into it, popping out small wooden debris in process. Jack wanted to go out to the open field and pull Polyakov to the tree line himself, but at the moment, he was pinned down by Pushkin and the remaining commandos.

While Jack and Pushkin exchanged fire, Polyakov was still trying to crawl his way to the tree line very slowly. However, he was bleeding out and he was still quite far from the tree line. At the moment, a thought hit him: he was going to die within the matter of minutes. Polyakov recalled that when he was a young officer, he always had the romantic notion of dying gloriously in the line of duty. However, as he grew order and order, Polyakov didn't believe in that notion anymore. Now as an old man, he wanted to die peacefully and comfortably on his own bed. However, at this moment, he realized that it wasn't gonna happened as he was lying on his stomach with blood gushing out of his lower back and his thigh. Suddenly, another thought occurred in Polyakov's head. If he could not die the way he wanted, at least he could die on his own term, instead of being taken out like a victim. Therefore, with his last ounce of strength, Polyakov put his USP pistol to his right temple. He gave Jack an 'I'm sorry' look, said a brief prayer in Russian, and then he pulled the trigger.

"No!" Jack shouted desperately as he saw what transpired. He hated the fact that he could not do anything to save Polyakov, even though he had the idea of using Polyakov as bait for drawing Kirilenko out. Moreover, Polyakov's contact inside the Russian Consulate was in process of finding out the identity of the woman Kirilenko was also after. With Polyakov dead, Jack could not find out more about this mysterious woman from Polyakov since only Polyakov knew his contact inside the Russian Consulate. Jack hoped that Chloe had better luck cracking the encryption on Russian Consulate's wireless communication, since as of now, that mysterious woman just became his only shot for drawing Kirilenko out of the Russian Consulate. As his G36C assault rifle ran out of ammo, Jack quickly dropped the assault rifle, drew his USP Compact pistol , and then headed into the tree line. He knew he was near the entrance of the ranch and through the cover of trees; he should be able to reach the entrance.

Once Pushkin noticed the bullets stopped flying, he knew that the target must have making a run for it by travelling through the wooded area. Pushkin ordered his men to spread out and headed to the tree line to hunt the target down. Right now, including Pushkin, there were only four commandos, and it was hard to conduct a thorough canvass search beyond the tree line with only four of them. However, Pushkin was determined to find the target and eliminated him.

After quickly moving through the wooded area, Jack finally reached the entrance of the ranch. As he approached the entrance of the ranch, he saw a body of a guard near an open gate and an SUV. Jack recognized the vehicle. It was Pazinhov's SUV. With his USP Compact pistol raised, Jack quickly moved to the side of the SUV. After he got to the right door, he saw Pazinhov sitting in the driver's seat of the SUV, with bullet wounds on his head and his chest. Just as Jack saw Pazinhov's body in sitting in the SUV, he heard footsteps and radio chatter in Russian. Those commandos are closing in my position. Jack thought. Without any hesitation, Jack quickly got into the SUV, shoved Pazinhov's body out of the vehicle, and then drove the SUV out of the entrance in full speed.

As he drove, Jack really hoped that Chloe had already crack the encrypted communication from Russian Consulate, because at the moment, Jack had only one shot at drawing Kirilenko out of the Russian Consulate, and it all depended on getting to this mysterious woman before Kirilenko does.

**4:27:06**

As Sarah was driving, she couldn't help but to feel a sense of relief. Now she and Renee had gotten the Russians' informant inside the FBI so the FBI was no longer compromised. Therefore, she could go back to the FBI field office. Sarah was tired of being chased and shot at by those Russians. She needed a place where she could feel completely safe. Therefore, the FBI field office was her choice. In addition, Sarah thought she could do more to help and protect Renee with FBI's resources. Despite she was still disturbed by what Renee did to Kristin a brief moment ago, she greatly sympathize Renee's situation. As she thought about what Renee did, Sarah realized that she needed to decide what to tell her boss, Special Agent in Charge Stan Hoffman, about how Kristin lost half of her left ear lobe. She knew what Renee did was wrong, but she really hated to see Renee in more trouble because of that. Suddenly, Kristin's voice broke the string of Sarah's concentrated thoughts.

"When we get to the FBI... I'm gonna have my lawyers ripped you two a new one... "Kristin moaned. She still suffered the pain from what Renee did to her left ear.

"Shut up." Renee said coldly. She was sitting in the backseat with a handcuffed Kristin since Sarah insisted on driving. However, even with Renee sitting on her left side, Kristin seemed to in a mood of spewing out a lot of threats and curses. Renee had learned to deal with this kind of suspect in her FBI career by simply ignoring them. Besides, Renee's mind was worried about Jack. She needed to get him out of this mess safely in one piece. The thought of 'it was her fault to begin with' continued to echo inside her mind.

"You two are going to jail! My lawyers will make sure of that!" Kristin continued.

There was heavy traffic at the intersection so Sarah came to a stop. Maybe it was because of the traffic or maybe it was because of Kristin's betrayal, Sarah could not take Kristin's whining anymore. "Renee, do you have a way to shut her up completely?" Sarah asked as she turned around facing Renee and Kristin. She was still deeply hurt by Kristin's betrayal, and Kristin's whining was really getting to her.

Just as Renee about to speak, all of the sudden, a silver SUV stopped at the intersection, seemingly appearing from out of nowhere. After the SUV came to a sudden stopped, The doors of the silver SUV opened simultaneously and three men wearing balaclavas and tactical vests came out of the vehicle. All three men were holding UMP45 submachine guns outfitted with foregrips and holographic sights. Once they were out of the vehicle, all three gunmen started moving into the traffic to get a more clear view at Sarah's car.

At the moment Sarah's eyes widened. _Where the hell did they come from?_ Sarah thought as she started to feel the sense of fear and dread. Just as she tried to calm herself down mentally, Sarah noticed that one car behind her, a minivan stopped across the traffic lanes, effectively blocking Sarah's escape. After stopping, both minivans' front doors opened as Markov and his driver getting out of the car. Markov and his driver were holding SIG 552 assault rifles also outfitted with foregrips and holographic sights. Markov then quickly moved to the 5 o'clock position with respect to Sarah's car as his driver moved to the 7 o'clock position. As the moved, Markov and his driver also raised their weapons and aimed at Sarah's car.

Upon seeing what was happening, the bystander from the street scattered quickly in panic. Some the drivers inside the nearby cars did the same thing. Some drivers also tried to drive out of the scene, however, due to the heavy traffic, some of the cars bumped into each other, creating mini pile ups in both traffic lanes and the intersection. The scene was chaotic at best. As a result, some drivers decided to stay low inside their vehicles, and pray they could make out of the situation alive.

As she noticed what was happening, Renee then quickly shielded Kristin by pushing Kristin down. Although Renee shared the same distain for Kristin as Sarah, she wasn't gonna let a suspect die, especially the suspect could clear Jack's name for the assassination he did not commit.

"Agent Ferris, get down!" Renee shouted. Sarah complied in panic.

After Renee said that, hails of bullets slammed into the car's rear right and front left, creating series of metal clinks and sparks as bullets dented Sarah's car. Fortunately for Renee and Sarah, due to some of the mini pile ups in their vicinity, some vehicles obstructed gunmen's line of sight. However, some of bullets still managed to hit the body and the doors of the car. The bullets also shattered rear windshield, right rear door window, and the right rear door quarter glass. Renee winced as many tiny pieces of broken glasses fell upon her and Kristin. Renee thought they were in a real pickle this time as the car continued to be assaulted by series of gunfire.

"We need to get out of here now!" Renee shouted to Sarah.

Sarah's entire body was trembling. However, her survival instinct kicked in, telling her she needed to sucked it up and tried to get out this sticky situation alive. Whiling hiding her fear and panic, Sarah gripped the steering wheel while staying low as bullets hitting front windshield of the car. Sarah knew that their best bet was to use the trunk of the car as a battering ram to ram through the traffic in the back. Therefore, she drove forward to create some distance behind the car. Sarah's car bumped into the vehicle in front of her like bumper cars. After that, she shifted the gear to reverse. Sarah turned her head around as floored the gas pedal, hoping to the car had enough momentum to ram through the traffic behind her. However, the car only bumped the vehicle behind her. The force from Sarah's car only pushed that vehicle back for a short distance. Sarah decided to try again as she shifted the gear to drive.

Meanwhile, after making sure Kristin was staying down in the backseat, Renee quickly drew her Glock 19 pistol, turned around, and started firing at Markov's driver from the already broken rear windshield. As Renee's started firing, Markov's driver quickly retreated behind a car in the traffic. Markov noticed his driver was taking fire so he began firing at the Renee's direction. Upon feeling the bullets hitting the rear windshield's frame around her, Renee quickly dived into the backseat as bullets continued hitting the rear of the car.

After they fired a couple of shots in bursts, all three gunmen near the intersection fanned out and continued to advance toward Sarah's car, hoping they could get close enough to kill the occupants inside the targeted car. One of the gunmen moved to the 11 o'clock direction of Sarah's car and began firing at it.

At the same time, just as Sarah tried to ram the car through the traffic in her back, hails of bullets hit the left side of the car. Bullets were able to shatter the both left doors' windows and tiny debris of broken glasses fell upon both Sarah and Renee. Sarah realized that she needed to deal with what happening in front of the car first. Therefore, she quickly pulled out her Glock 26 pistol and began firing at the gunman at her 11 o'clock through the already broken left front door window. Sarah's bullets hit the gunman in the chest, and the gunman let out a loud groan before he fell down to the ground. After taking care of the gunman at her 11 o'clock, Sarah put the pedal to the metal and the trunk of the car rammed into the car behind her again. The clashed of metals let out sparks and tiny metal debris.

Meanwhile, Renee popped out from the backseat and fired at both Markov and Markov's driver's direction. Unfortunately for Markov's driver, one of Renee's bullets hit him in the head just as he came out his cover and tried to advance closer to the car. As Renee's bullets flew past him, Markov quickly ducked behind a car. He used this opportunity to reload his assault rifle. After inserting a fresh magazine, Markov popped out from his cover and returned fire at Renee's direction. As she felt the bullets from Markov's assault rifle flying past her, Renee quickly dived down in the backseat again.

After ramming the vehicle behind her for the second time, Sarah decided to try for the third time, hoping she could ram the car through. As bullets continued to hit the front windshield, creating tiny holes with cracks surrounding them, Sarah kept her heads down as she shifted the gear to drive and drove the car into the vehicle in front of her again. Just as the car bumped into the vehicle in front of her, a stray bullet hit the front windshield shattering the right part of it, creating a huge gaping hole. Sarah then fired her weapon through that gaping hole on the front windshield, killing one gunman in process. The last gunman quickly retreated behind a vehicle and began to reload his weapon. After Sarah saw that, she shifted the gear to reverse again and began to floor the gas pedal.

After noticing the target car moving forward and ramming the vehicle in front of it, Markov quickly rushed to the gap behind Sarah's car. He hoped that once he got close enough, he could unload his weapon at the rear window and killing every occupant inside of the car quickly. However, just as he raised his assault rifle and began to pull the trigger, the car backed into him, and its trunk and rear bumper pushed him against the vehicle behind him. Markov was now caught between two cars, and the car in front of him continued to move backward, and its trunk squeezed his lower body against the front bumper of the vehicle behind him. The vehicle behind him also travelled backward due to the force from Sarah's car. Markov screamed loudly in pain as he tried to raise his weapon again so he could fire his weapon at the rear window.

"Renee!" Sarah warned Renee about Markov as she continued backing the car and pushing vehicle behind her car backward, with Markov caught in between both vehicles at the same time.

Just as Sarah said it, Renee quickly popped out from the backseat and shot Markov twice in the chest, effectively killing him. Just as Sarah continued to push both Markov and the vehicle behind him backward, the vehicle behind her car suddenly got pushed further away due to the momentum. That vehicle then slid to right, making a way for Sarah's car. Markov's body also got pushed away due to the momentum as well. His body flew backward and landed on traffic lane beside Sarah's car.

Upon noticing the road behind her was clear, Sarah quickly back the car out, and then swirled the car in almost 180 degree. She quickly shifted the gear to drive and then drove away from the intersection in full speed.

"Everyone alright?" Sarah asked worriedly as she drove in full speed.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Renee said as she turned to her right to check on Kristin. However, just as she helped Kristin up, Renee discovered something horrifying: a huge blood stain on Kristin's chest. It was painfully obvious that Kristin caught a stray bullet in her chest. Renee thought that Kristin probably panicked and tried to sit up. As a result, a stray bullet hit her. Kristin whimpered in pain as she bled profusely. She looked at Renee in both anger and panic as she struggled to breathe due to punctured lung.

"Oh my God..." Renee said as she applied pressure on Kristin's wound, attempting to stop the bleeding. "Sarah, Kristin's shot! We need to get her to the hospital now!" Although Renee was disgusted by Kirstin's actions, she needed Kristin alive since Kristin was the only suspect at the moment that could prove that Jack was framed by Kirilenko, and possibly, helping them connecting dots about Kirilenko's plans.

Sarah was shocked by what Renee just told her. Her mind struggled to figure out where was the nearest hospital with respect to her current location while she drove as fast as the car allowed. Although she absolutely despised Kristin, especially after she found out Kristin was involved in Agent Riley's death, Sarah knew that she needed to put her feelings aside for the moment and focused on getting Kristin to a hospital.

"Come on...just hang in there..." Renee said to Kristin desperately. As Renee put the pressure on Kristin's wound in an attempt to stop bleeding, she guessed that the bullet must have hit the main artery because there was a lot of blood. _Damn it._ She thought. Renee could felt Kristin getting weaker and weaker by the second.

Kristin, on the other hand, was struggling to stay alive as Renee continued to apply pressure on her wound in a desperate attempt to stop her bleeding. Gradually, Kristin could not feel the pain on her chest as her mind slipped into the darkness.

"No...no..." Renee muttered after she noticed Kristin stopped her breathing.

"Renee what's happening? Is she still alive?" Sarah asked in somewhat panic tone.

Renee only gave Sarah a defeated look as she looked at the rear view mirror. Renee was dumbfounded by the sudden turn of event. Moments ago she and Sarah had Kristin, who could prove Jack's innocence in the IRK foreign minister's assassination, in their custody. However, now Kristin was dead, and they were left with no proof.

As Sarah saw Renee's defeated expression through the rear view mirror, she couldn't help but to feel defeated too. She also felt the sadness in general. Although she hated Kristin, Sarah didn't want to see Kristin ended in that way. She wanted to see Kristin facing trial for what she had done, but now it seemed impossible. More importantly, Kristin was the suspect who could prove Kirilenko's involvement in both IRK foreign minister's assassination and Agent Riley's demise. With Kristin dead, Sarah and Renee were back to square one.

Both women felt defeated as they tried to think of a way to salvage the situation.

**4:38:26**

**FBI LA Field Office.**

"I understand... Alright, I will keep the CTU updated." Special Agent in Charge Stan Hoffman said, and then he hanged up the phone. He closed his eyes. After he and his team searched nearly every inch of West Hollywood, they couldn't find Jack Bauer. Therefore, Hoffman decided to return to the field office and trying to figure about how they gonna find a man who had the reputation of being extremely difficult to apprehend. After he arrived at his office, the CTU called, telling him that the White House had given the order that Jack Bauer needed to be captured by the end of the day. Although the White House didn't give them the reasons, Hoffman could have guessed that their reasons were definitely political. _I have enough on my plate as it is; and now there's a deadline too? _Hoffman thought as he sighed in frustration. He also thought about looking into Jack Bauer's former associates, one Chloe O'Brian in particular. However, she was nowhere to be found, and worse, some guy from DCIS (Defence Criminal Investigation Service) seemed to want the FBI to enter a jurisdiction pissing match in regards to Chloe O'Brian, and as usual, they didn't give the reason on why they were interested in her. Just as Hoffman rubbed his head trying to relieve some of his frustrations, an agent knocked on his door. Hoffman looked up and gestured her to come into his office.

"Sir, I got the forensic report on the scene of IRK foreign minister's assassination." Desk agent Marci Reynolds said as she handed Hoffman the report.

"Alright, thanks." Hoffman took the report and started reading it just as Agent Reynolds walked out of his office. Suddenly, he noticed something strange. The forensic report indicated that the shooter used 7.62x51mm NATO rounds. Also according to the report, those rounds were fired by a M14 rifle or its variant. Hoffman recalled what he had seen from the CTU drone's surveillance feed at the scene, Jack Bauer was actually holding a FN SCAR-L rifle, the same type of rifle he used in the attempted assassination of Russian President Yuri Suvarov 18 months ago. Hoffman knew that the FN SCAR-L fires 5.56x45mm NATO rounds, which was not the type of the rounds found at the scene. _This is strange indeed... maybe we have a second shooter... does that mean that Jack Bauer did not shoot the IRK foreign minister?_ Hoffman thought. Just as he tried figuring the case out, a knock interrupted his strings of thoughts. It was Raymond Parker.

"Sir, you are not gonna believe this! I went through everything we have on Renee Walker and it turns out that Walker actually had worked with Jack Bauer before! They actually worked together on that Sangalan case a few years back, and that was actually Walker's last case before she got fired from the bureau. In addition to that, she also worked with Jack in that case involving the IRK radicals 18 months ago, right before she went into witness protection... "Parker explained.

Hoffman's eyes widened. "Wait a minute, are you saying that the Walker case and the Bauer case are connected?"

"Well, I'm saying that those two cases are probably related. I mean, there are too many coincidences..." Parker said.

Hoffman paused to absorb what Parker just told him. Suddenly, another question popped up in his mind. "Wait, how come you are going through Walker's files. I thought Kristin was supposed to do that?"

"Un...well, she said she has family emergency she needs to take care off. I think it has something to do with her brothers...She left the office about 2 hours ago..." Parker said awkwardly. He wondered why Kristin hadn't made it back to the office yet. Therefore, he saw there was no point covering for her anymore. Besides, Kristin was pretty much an FBI girl scout, if she said she had family emergency, she must have family emergency.

"What? Damn it! We are in crisis mode here and she just decided to take a 2 hours break?" Hoffman said somewhat angrily. If it was 30 minutes to an hour he would understand, but two hours? "Get her on the phone and find out what taking her so long. Also, tell her to get back here ASAP!"

"Yes, sir." Parker said, and then he quickly got out of the office.

Hoffman started rubbed his head again. Right now he got two agents missing, and two rogue former federal agents who needed to be taken into custody. He already had enough on his plate. He then continued to his string of thoughts earlier. The case about Jack Bauer definitely took an interesting turn. _Is it possible that Jack Bauer was being set up? Why is he at the scene at that time? And if the Walker case is connected to Jack Bauer in some way, what is this Renee Walker's connection in all of this? And who are those people chasing her? And why is her being chased? Is it for something she knows? If so, what does she know?_ As Hoffman thought about both cases, more and more questions kept popping up. However, Hoffman knew one thing was certain, He should have all, or at least some of answers to these questions once he had Jack Bauer, or Renee Walker, or both of them in custody.

**4:43:35**

After speeding away from the scene of the ambush, as soon as both Sarah and Renee made sure there wasn't any car following them, Sarah quickly drove the car into a back alley. After she parked the car, she turned around facing Renee.

"What do we do now?" Sarah said sadly. At the moment she still could not believe their only suspect was dead.

At the moment, Renee had been trying to pull herself together. She thought she could not fall apart, not when Jack was in trouble. _Jack had already been in enough trouble because of me...I need to help him get out of this mess. _The thought repeated in Renee's mind as she trying to come up with a way to prove Jack's innocence and expose Kirilenko's conspiracy. Suddenly, a rough idea came on top of her head.

"Do you still have Kristin's phone? The one she used for communicating with Kirilenko..." Renee asked. She started thinking about a possible plan.

"Yeah, but what's on there wasn't enough. What's on the phone only proves that Kristin was on Kirilenko's payroll. Other than that, it doesn't have anything related to the assassination this morning or the nerve gas attack in Moscow three weeks ago..." Sarah said as she handed the phone to Renee.

After receiving the phone from Sarah, Renee quickly went through what was on the phone. Renee thought Sarah was right. There were some financial records on Kirilenko and a brief dossier on Kirilenko, including a picture of him, on Kristin's phone. Those information on that phone could not prove Jack's innocence in IRK foreign minister's assassination. Right now, the only person who could do that was Kirilenko_. _

"If we take these evidences to the FBI, we may have probable cause for bringing Kirilenko, since he did bribe a federal employee...However, as Kristin said, he's currently inside Russian Consulate. That means FBI might have to contact State Department and it's gonna be a lot of red tapes to go through, and even if we got the permission to bring Kirilenko into our custody, he could be in Russia by then..." Sarah continued as Renee went over what was on Kristin's phone.

"What if I told you I could get Kirilenko out of Russian Consulate and at the same time, give FBI a reason to arrest him on spot?" Renee said as she looked at Sarah determinedly.

"How?" Sarah asked. From the looks of it, Renee already had a plan. However, Sarah couldn't shake the feeling that she won't like what Renee was about to tell her.

"I will arrange a meeting with Kirilenko. I will tell him that I got information that is very damaging to him and I want to make a deal with him..." Renee said seriously.

"What? You want to make a deal with that bastard after what he put you and Jack through?" Sarah questioned Renee as her eyes widened. "Besides, you don't have any leverage over him... I mean, what we got from Kristin isn't enough..." Sarah said in both confusion and anger. She couldn't believe that Renee was even considering making a deal with Kirilenko. _This is just preposterous._ She thought.

"Relax. I'm not really going to making a deal with that son of a bitch. The meeting is just a ruse. In order for him to meet me, Kirilenko will have to get out of the Russian Consulate. He will definitely use this meeting as an opportunity to take me out. That's when you and the FBI come in. I need you to contact the FBI and telling them to start tracking my position. That way you and the FBI can swoop in and get Kirilenko as the meeting goes down." Renee explained. She still felt a sense of guilt because of what happened on that fateful day 18 months ago. Renee thought if it wasn't for her, Jack would not have been in this predicament of being chased by US and Russian authorities across the globe. Renee wanted to make things right for Jack, but she didn't have the power to. However, proving Jack's innocence in the IRK foreign minister's assassination was one thing she could do. Renee knew it wasn't much considering the overall situation Jack was in, but it was the least she could do for the man she loved. Even though Renee knew the plan was extremely dangerous and risky, she still needed to try.

"Wait...let me get this straight, so what you are saying is that you will go to meet with Kirilenko alone without any backup?"

Renee simply nodded.

"What?" Renee, are you crazy?" Sarah protested strongly. Renee was basically throwing herself into a pack of wolfs and hoping the help got to her in time. It was way too dangerous and risky. "You can't go into the meeting alone! Let's just go to the FBI first. I can get you full tactical support and at least two backup units to cover you while you do the meeting..."

"Sarah, look, this play is not gonna work if I show up with FBI backups. Kirilenko is ex-Russian military intelligence, which means he probably knows the FBI's playbook. He will call off the meeting as soon as he noticed the FBI's presence. Therefore, in order to draw him out, I need to go by myself." Renee said as she took out her phone. "I will call you after I made contact with Kirilenko. I will also leave the phone on so you and the FBI can track my location and monitor the situation at the same time."

"From what we have seen in the past few hours, Kirilenko and his men will kill you the moment you show up at the meeting!" Sarah protested as she still worried about Renee's safety.

"I think I can bluff my way long enough for the FBI to arrive." Renee said confidently.

"But..." Sarah said with hesitation. She thought about Renee's plan for a moment. Her plan was sound, but extremely risky. There are too many moving parts and there is a high probability things will go wrong, terribly wrong.

"Sarah, please, I need to do this. I need to make thing right for Jack. I know what the risks are. I can take care of myself." Renee said with full determination after she noticed Sarah's hesitation.

Sarah continued hesitating for a short moment. "Okay..." She agreed reluctantly. Sarah still considered Renee's plan too risky, but she could sense Renee's determination to carry her plan through whether with or without her and FBI's help. Sarah though that since Renee will be leaving her phone on in order for her and the FBI to track her and monitor the situation at the same time, if she and the FBI could arrive in time, then everything should be fine. However, she just couldn't shake the feeling that things will go horribly wrong.

"Thank you." Renee said sincerely. "By the way... I also need a favour."

"Anything." Sarah said.

"Make sure Jack's name get cleared for the IRK foreign minister's assassination." Renee said in a somewhat somber tone.

"I will." Sarah agreed. Not only clearing Jack's name and exposing Russian conspiracy were the right things to do, Sarah also wanted to repay Renee the debt for saving her twice in the past few hours. In addition, Sarah sympathized with Renee's situation. Therefore, she was determined to ensure that Renee's request came true.

Renee nodded, and then she opened the door, prepared to get out of the car.

"Hey!"

Renee turned around to Sarah as she prepared to get out of the car.

"Just be careful, okay?"

"I will" Renee said as she got of the car.

As she was walking away from Sarah's car, Renee tried to prepare herself on dealing with Kirilenko mentally. In order to deal with likes of Kirilenko, Renee felt that she needed to become Renee Zadan again. However, it also meat that she needed to revisit the memories that she wanted to stay buried forever. Renee obviously did not want to revisit the memories of Vladimir Laitanan again. She reminded herself that she was doing it for Jack. After Renee completely embraced the essence of Renee Zadan, she took out Kristin phone and made the call. After it rang for a while, a Russian man answered.

"You are obviously not Kristin Gordon. Who am I speaking to?" Kirilenko asked directly. Kirilenko knew that number was Kristin's, but he also knew that Kristin had been captured by Renee Walker and the other FBI agent. Therefore, whoever made this call from Kristin's phone was either Renee Walker or that FBI agent.

"I'm the person you are trying to kill, Mr. Kirilenko." Renee said coldly.

**4:52:24**

After driving away from the ranch, Jack had noticed that he was not being pursuit by the remaining commandos. _They were probably still trying to regroup._ Jack thought. Jack also knew that as he drove towards the city, he needed to change the car again as the bullet holes on the front windshield would attracted a lot of unwanted attentions. After pulling over to the side of the road, Jack assessed his current situation. With Polyakov dead, Jack would have no choice but to use the mysterious woman as bait in order to draw Kirilenko out of the Russian Consulate. However, in order to do so, he needed to find out who she was and where she was first. Since Polyakov's contacts in Russian consulate became a dead end, as a result, Jack really hoped Chloe would be able to crack the encryption and find more about this mysterious woman Kirilenko was after. Therefore, he called Chloe to give her the update on the situation. As the phone rang Jack couldn't help but to get a bad feeling...

"Chloe, it's Jack. Polyakov and I were ambushed by a team sent by Kirilenko and now Polyakov is dead. Do you have any lead on that mysterious woman Kirilenko was after?"

"Jack, I was just about to call you...I found out who that woman is..." Chloe said in an extreme awkward and uncomfortable tone. She hated to be the one who delivered the unexpected news to Jack. Even though she had done it countless times when she was working with Jack, Chloe still wasn't used to it.

"Who is she?" Jack asked in his no-none sense tone.

"It's Renee." Chloe just blabbed that out. She did not know how she could deliver that news to Jack, so she just told him directly.

"That's impossible. Renee Walker is dead." Jack shouted angrily. _What kind of a sick joke is it?_ Jack thought. The thought of Renee's death still haunted him to this date. Over the past 18 months, Jack had kept blaming himself for what happened to Renee. _He had failed her. He had failed to protect her._ Those were the thoughts that continued to haunt Jack to this date. At the same time, Jack also thought that Chloe wouldn't make that kind of claim without some substantial evidence. Somewhere deep down, Jack hoped that what Chloe had just told him was true, despite how impossible that was.

"Jack, I managed to crack the Odessa III encryption and I was able to intercept one of phone calls that was made to Kirilenko." Chloe stated. With Morris' help Chloe was able to find a way to decrypt the communication. "The caller is Renee. I couldn't believe it myself at first so I ran a voice print recognition. I got a 98.3% match. And I also ran various authentication checks for digital signatures to see if someone recreated her voice digitally but I came up with nothing. Her voice is real, Jack... it is her..."

"What?" At the moment, Jack still could not believe it. He saw Renee's body lying on the operating table in that horrible day 18 months ago. Could it be that someone digitally recreated her voice? However, he trusted Chloe's technical abilities. If Chloe said the voice was authentic, then there was a high probability that it was true. However, Jack was still uncertain what to make of it.

"I'm sending you the audio file." Chloe could sense that Jack was still not buying it, so she had to show him the proof.

After Jack received the audio file on his phone, he quickly played it.

"_Renee Walker I presume. You have a lot of nerve calling me..._" Kirilenko said.

"_I'm calling you because I want to make a deal with you..._" Renee stated emotionlessly.

"_A deal?_" Kirilenko simply chuckled. "_I don't think you are in any position to bargain with me. Unless you the deal you are speaking of consists you putting a bullet in that pretty head of yours, then you got nothing to offer me._"

"_That's where you are wrong, Mr. Kirilenko_." Renee tried her hardest to hide her disgust and hate for the person who she was speaking to over the phone, while remaining in her cold, business-like demeanour, just like Renee Zadan. "_Do you remember Vladimir Laitanan? The arm trafficker you trying to kill 7 years ago? By now you probably know that I was the FBI agent who went undercover inside his arm smuggling ring at that time. As it turns out, Laitanan is not stupid as we think. He actually recorded some of his phone conversations in case he needed some insurance, and the inquiry he made about your chemical weapon facility was one of those recordings. At the moment, an associate of mine in New York is in possession of that recording. It actually contains some very damaging information, like the location of your chemical weapon facility in Kazakhstan, which had been manufacturing a VX variant called 'Silent Night' in the past few years..._" Renee bluffed. She didn't have an associate in New York or recordings about Kirilenko's chemical weapon facility. Valdimir Laitanan was not the sharpest tool in the shed, so he definitely didn't kept records of his phone conversations. However, Renee thought that Kirilenko probably didn't know Laitanan that well, so she could easily used that to her advantage in her bluffs. Besides, she also thought since that son of a bitch and all of his posses were dead, Kirilenko had no way of verifying what she just said.

"_I find that hard to believe. If you possess such evidence, you would have handed it to the FBI 7 years ago..._" Kirilenko retorted.

"_I have my reasons not handing it to the FBI. If you don't believe me, then you probably won't care that my associate takes the recording to FBI or any major news network of her choosing..._" Renee said in a very firm tone.

As he was hearing the conversation, Jack became more shocked and dumbfounded by the second. _It can't be... How is that even possible?_ Those thoughts repeated his Jack's mind. He started to question his sanity as the recording continued playing.

"_You are bluffing..._" Kirilenko said angrily.

"_Maybe I'm. Maybe I'm not. You can find out about it yourself if you agree to make a deal with me._"

Kirilenko paused for a moment. His gut telling him that this woman was bluffing. However, he also thought about the possibilities that what if she was not. His calculated side kept reminding him to play it safe and prepare for the worst case scenarios. "_Okay,_ so _what do you want?_"

"I want $10 million dollars for that recording. I have no interest in your business. I just want to disappear, start a new life. I'm tired of having to look over my shoulder every waking moment..." Renee said somberly. The last part was true. She was tired of having to look over her shoulder constantly.

Kirilenko paused for a moment again. He thought the deal would be a perfect opportunity to take her out. He probably wouldn't get a chance like that since this woman would probably disappear into the underground if he refused to deal with her. "_I will contact you with instructions._" After he said that, Krilenko hanged up.

After the end of playback, Jack remained in complete shock. _That's not possible._ He kept telling himself. He tried to believe what he heard was true. He wanted it to be true. Even in his wildest dreams, Jack couldn't even dream that Renee is still alive. However, the horrible memories of that horrible day resurfaced. The memory of him carrying her to the hospital and the memory of her lying lifelessly on the operating table continued assaulting him as the conflicting reality began to sink in: Renee Walker is alive. _That's definitely Renee's voice... She was dead...How can she be talking on the phone? How can she be alive? And why the hell is she talking to Kirilenko? _Those were among the millions of questions swarming inside Jack's head as he remain completely dumbfounded...

**04:59:57...04:59:58...04:59:59...05:00:00**

* * *

**:O... Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

_**Some Random Reflections/Ramblings:**_

_**1. S#*! getting blown up:**__ Since this is 24, so S#*! will definitely gets blown up real good (LOL). For Jack's improvised 'microwave oven bomb', in real life the 'explosion' it created probably won't be that devastating. Some creative liberties were taken in order to make action scenes more exciting. Plus, Jack Bauer turning microwave into a bomb is kinda badass in my opinion (LOL). As for the exploding gas tank, well, according to a certain burned spy, shooting a gas tank will only you a cloud of cold gas so in order to make a gas tank explode you need open flame. This is also proven by the good folks at the Discovery channel. However, in season 5, Jack did make a giant gas tank explode by shooting it with a __**pistol**__ (as I recall), so I will chuck this into the account of creative liberty as well. Besides, certain famous British spy also did same thing (LOL)._

_**2. Jack laying waste to a Lovonski's men:**__ Well, in 'Redemption' Jack was able to take out at least 10 of Col. Dubaku's militia within the span of 5 minutes (I timed it), so I hope having him killing 10+ of Lovonski's commandos shouldn't be a stretch..._

_**3. The ambush: **__Originally it was __gonna be a car chase, but I always feel that the car-chase is very difficult to write. Therefore, I chose to have Russians doing an ambush while Sarah and Renee were transporting Kristin. However, it was still no easy task since the actions were very chaotic. I hope I did alright with that scene._

_**4. Morris O'Brian: **He is also one of hard character to write simply because he got very little screen time in season 7 (Actor Carlo Rota was doing 'Little Mosque at the Prairies' at the time), and I want to continue his season 7 character (loving husband). I hope I got his character right._

_**5. Jack and Renee:**__ So Jack finally aware that Renee's alive. I don't want to spoil too much for the next chapter so...:)_


	11. 5:00PM 6:00PM

_**Author's Note:**_

_I'm terribly sorry for this super late update. It's just life got in the way. In addition to that, I wasn't satisfied with my first draft for this chapter so I ended up rewriting most of the part. The future chapters might also be updated slower (due to additional planning for future chapters), for that, I apologize in advance. _

_To ilive4jeanz:_

_I will definite try to watch out for those mistakes in the future. I'm glad those mistakes did not affect your enjoyment of the story._

_To Bob:_

_Kirilenko usually calls 1-800-HENCHMEN and he got discounts on their services, too. Therefore, he doesn't need to hire Renee :)_

_Anyway, let's roll the tape..._

_P.S. Hooray for those Chilean miners!_

_**Additional Research Notes:**_

_**Echelon Network: **__It's a NSA system that used to monitor phone and internet messages in order to detect any signs of threat to national security. The system does so by searching for certain keywords inside messages. The system was mentioned in season 7 and season 8._

* * *

**Previously on 24:**

As the assault on Polyakov's ranch led by Lovonski commenced, Jack Bauer and Polyakov had no choice but to shoot their way out. During the process, Jack managed to kill Lovonski and pretty much his entire commando team. However, Polyakov was gravely wounded and decided to commit suicide instead. Meanwhile, Renee Walker and SA Sarah Ferris were ambushed by Kirilenko's men while they were transporting Kirilenko's informant inside the FBI, Kiristin Gordon, to the FBI. Kristin was killed in process. Having no choice, Renee decided to arrange a meeting with Kirilenko in order to lure him out of the Russian Consulate. Meanwhile, Chloe picked up a phone call between Renee and Kirilenko and let Jack know that Renee was alive. Jack was shocked by the revelation...

**The following takes place between 5:00PM and 6:00PM**

**5:02:31**

Jack was still in shock. After finished hearing the audio file Chloe had sent him, Jack completely froze. He was overwhelmed by many emotions. It was evident that Renee was the mysterious woman Kirilenko was after. He still could not believe Renee was still alive. _How's that even remotely possible... I saw her died on that operating table... and why didn't she try to contact me or Chloe...and what's her involvement with Kirilenko? How the hell did she know Kirilenko is behind the terrorist attack in Moscow three weeks ago? Not to mention she has proof...Can it be related to her undercover operation?_ As Jack still trying his hardest to figure out what the hell was going on, another thought hit him violently like a freight train. _Why does she put herself in danger like that?_ Suddenly, the memories of Renee willingly went undercover inside Valdimir Laitanan's organization resurfaced again. Jack still remembered the night when she was on her knees, begging Valdimir Laitanan to pull the trigger while he listened helplessly through his earpieace. As he recalled those horrible memories, Jack became more and more determined to make sure no harm came to Renee. He could not fail her again, like what happened 18 months ago. He needed to make this right. Suddenly, a familiar voice snapped him back to the reality.

"Jack? Jack? You there?" Chloe asked worriedly. She knew Jack would not take the news well, not to mention the fact that Renee might already be in danger.

"Yeah, I'm here. Do you have Renee's location?" Jack asked anxiously. He wanted to get to Renee before she met with Kirilenko.

"Not at the moment. I can try to track her position once Kirilenko called her again but it's gonna take some time..." Chloe answered somewhat nervously.

"What about Kirilenko? Is he still inside the Consulate?" Jack asked in his none sense tone. He figured that Kirilenko probably hadn't left the Consulate yet. If he continued to remain inside the Russian Consulate, the likelihood of this meeting became an trap increased.

"I already tap into the CTU's system to get the satellite surveillance on Russian Consulate, so far, no vehicle has left the Consulate ground. Jack, I can't remain in CTU's system forever. It's already risky I tapped into CTU's bandwidth. If I stay too long they could easily detect my intrusion and shut me out of the system, then we lose track of Kirilenko..." Chloe stated. She just hoped that those CTU analysts were too occupied to notice her intrusion of their system.

"Just do what you can to track Renee and Kirilenko, call me when you have something." Jack then hanged up.

After he hanged up, Jack started up Polyakov's SUV again. As of the moment, he only got one objective in his mind: protect Renee at all cost. Nothing else matters. Right now, Jack did not care about the international crisis brewing between Russia and IRK. He was given a second chance to make things right and he was sure as hell not gonna fail for the second time.

**5:07:49**

After Kirilenko finished talking to Renee, he called his aide through the Consulate phone to have him arrange a car and security details for the meeting. As he walked to the Consulate's front door, he started to strategize his next move regarding how to deal with Renee Walker. He thought about what she had said about the recording. According to Renee Walker, the recording could prove he ran a chemical weapon facility in Kazakhstan which produced the VX variant known as 'Silent Night', the same type of nerve gas used in the terrorist attack in Moscow three weeks ago. _If this evidence was made public, not only it could undo what I had planned, it could also make me a wanted man._ Kirilenko thought worriedly. However, another thought also hit him at the same time. _What if this Renee Walker was simply bluffing and the so-called recording was just a ruse so she can ensnare her trap once I met with her. Besides, from her FBI service record, there's no indication that she is involved in any shady dealing, so if she did have such recording, she would hand it to the FBI after she was done with her undercover op... However, she did torture a man inside the FBI's DC field office. Maybe she is not as uptight and clean as her files suggested. Maybe she is quite good at hiding her indiscretions..._ Kirilenko analyzed. As a result, he decided to play it safe and assume that Renee Walker did have the recording. Besides, if it turned out she did not have it, he could kill her right at the spot, which saved him the trouble of tracking her down.

After he walked out of the Consulate, Kirilenko saw the luxury car parked in front of the Consulate's front door and got into it. His aide was already waiting for him inside the car.

"Sir, the security team you requested will rendezvous with you once you exit the Consulate, and the forward team is en-route to the location." Kirilenko's aide reported in a very professional manner. "Forgive me for being blunt, Colonel, but are you sure this is a good idea?" Kirilenko's aide asked worriedly.

"There is an old Russian saying: the bear who sees the trap, cannot be caught." Kirilenko said calmly. "Besides, we dictate the place of the meeting, so we can spring our own trap for that little bitch."

As the luxury car drove out of the Consulate, suddenly, Kirilenko's cell rang. After checking the caller ID Kirilenko answered the phone.

"Colonel, this is Sergeant Pushkin. We had successfully eliminated Valentin Polyakov." Pushkin reported through his phone as he looked down at Polyakov's corpse. He and his men had lost Jack Bauer. Therefore, they decided to regroup and assess the situation first.

"Good." Kirilenko smirked as he heard the news. _Finally that traitorous snake Polyakov is dead, not to mention that's one potential leak got plugged. Now I can focus my attention on Renee Walker._ Kirilenko thought. At the same time, Kirilenko couldn't help but to feel some anger and sadness. He remembered the time when he and Polyakov were the best of friends. Polyakov was like an older brother to him. He taught him the trade and craft in espionage. They often talked for hours over a bottle of Vodka, whether it was about business or other topics. _That was all before he decided to go against me. Not mention that he turned into a traitor to Russia afterward, selling state secrets to CIA in exchange for a new life in America...It's just sad to see a good friend turn into something like this._ Kirilenko thought angrily.

"However, Lieutenant Lovonski is dead. Jack Bauer got him."

"What? I thought Lovonski took care of Bauer."

"Lieutenant Lovonski used Bauer to track down Polyakov. We were gonna take out both Bauer and Polyakov in one swoop but Bauer is more resourceful than we anticipated..." Pushkin was surprised that his boss didn't know about Lovonski's plan, but since Lovonski was dead there was no point hiding it. "Colonel, what are your orders?"

Kirilenko was a bit angry about Lovonski didn't tell him about his plan of using Bauer to track down Polyakov, but it didn't matter now. The objective was achieved. Polyakov was dead. "Leave Bauer to the American authorities. Right now he is still a wanted man, so the Americans will do our job for us..." Kirilenko thought about the possibility that Polyakov told Bauer about his chemical weapon facility in Kazakhstan. Therefore, Jack Bauer needed to be eliminated too. Rather than spent his manpower on hunting down Jack Bauer, Kirilenko thought it would be less of a hassle to let the law enforcement do his job for him. Once Jack Bauer was in custody, he could easily find out where he was held and take him out. Plus, the Renee Walker business was more pressing matter for him. "I'm en-route to a meeting and I need additional securities. The location is at 6701 Tarpin Street. A forward team is already en-route. Take the rest of your men and rendezvous with them."

"_da_, colonel." Pushkin replied.

After Kirilenko then hung up, 2 black SUVs appeared. One SUV sped up and drove in front of Kirilenko's car as another stayed closely behind it. All SUVs were carrying Kirilenko's security details.

"Sir, I just got report that the forward team is in position" Kirilenko's aide reported.

"Good." Kirilenko said as he checked his MP-443 Grach pistol. "That bitch has caused me enough problems today. Let's make sure she doesn't get another opportunity to do so this time."

**5:14:41**

After Renee left for her meeting with Kirilenko, Sarah called her boss, SAIC Stan Hoffman and told him about what happened in the past few hours, including the ambush at the mall, finding out Kristin Gordon was the Russians' informant inside the FBI, and the ambush that happened earlier while she and Renee was transferring Kristin back to the FBI. Maybe it was because she still hated Kristin for her involvement in her partner, Agent Scott Riley's demise. Maybe it was because she didn't want to get Renee into more trouble as she was already in. Maybe it was the combination of both. After much struggling, Sarah decided not to tell her boss about what happened to Kristin's left ear lobe. As Sarah waited for the FBI field team to arrive, she leaned against the car with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She was relieved that a FBI field team was coming to pick her up, especially after what she had been through in the past few hours. Sarah was tired of being pursuit by Kirilenko's death squads. However, she also worried about Renee at the same time. _What if she couldn't bluff them successfully? _Then negative thoughts kept resurfacing as Renee tried her hardest to think positively. After a short while, she saw three black SUVs entered the alley. After the SVUs came to a stop, Hoffman and the rest of FBI field team got out.

After speaking with Sarah over the phone, Hoffman didn't really buy Sarah's story completely, especially the part about Kristin being Russians' informant inside the FBI. As usual, he decided to take Sarah's claims with a healthy amount of skepticism. Fortunately for Sarah, she was able to provide Hoffman with some info on Kristin's secret bank account details she had memorized. Hoffman then thought that the possibility of Sarah making up such elaborate lie was quite slim, especially when Sarah was able to provide him with names and details. Plus, Hoffman also thought that Sarah wasn't a narcissist. Therefore, he started assigning some agents to look into Sarah's claims. While en-route to Sarah's location, Hoffman had received a call from other agents stating that there were some suspicious financial activities in Kristin's bank accounts. Therefore, his suspicions gradually disappeared. Once Hoffman arrived at Sarah's location, he saw Sarah leaning against a bullet ridden car with her arms crossed. _She looked like she has been through hell in the last couple of hours._ Hoffman thought. What he saw furthering reinforce the notion that Sarah was right.

"You okay, kid?" Hoffman said as he approached Sarah.

"Sir...Yeah, I'm alright... I guess..." Truth to be told, she wasn't. After what Sarah had been through, she wasn't sure how to answer that simple question. Therefore, she simply tried to shift the topic back to the more pressing matter. "Did you find anything in Kristin's computer...if she had been passing sensitive data to Kirilenko she must have left some traces or electronic finger prints..."

"I already have Parker going through Kristin's computers as we speak. Kristin is probably smart enough to cover her track, but if she was involved with this Kirilenko character and the Russians, I'm sure we'll find something...By the way, you said that Kristin told you about Jack Bauer being framed for the assassination of IRK foreign minister, what else did Kristin tell you?" Hoffman asked.

"She said that the original fall guy was a man name James Bellows. However, according to her, Jack Bauer was at the wrong place and the wrong time during the assassination so the Russians changed their plan and framed him instead." Sarah reported. "Renee and I were gonna bring her back to the bureau...however, we were ambushed by those Russians and Kristin is dead." Sarah said. She still could not believe that they were ambushed and their important lead was dead as a result.

The more Hoffman thought about the entire situation, it became more and more clear that Jack Bauer was framed. If what Kristin told Sarah were true, then it was possible that those Russians were gonna plant the rifle on that James Bellows guy in order to make it looked like he shot the IRK foreign minister. Jack Bauer's presence probably threw a wrench in their plans somehow and as a result, those Russians had to change their plan in a rush. That could explain why the ballistic evidence at the scene did not match the rifle Jack was holding at the time, because Jack Bauer was not part of those Russian's machination. However, there was another possible and simple explanation: Bauer was carrying two different weapons at the time. But Hoffman couldn't ignore what happened to Kristin and Sarah moments ago. He needed more answers, which meant he still needed to bring both Jack Bauer and Renee Walker in for questioning.

"Where is Renee Walker?" Hoffman asked.

"Un...she is already on her way to meet with Kirilenko." Sarah said awkwardly. "Once Renee got the location of the meeting she will contact us. We need to be ready..."

"Wait a minute... are you telling me that you let a potential witness go to meet with a guy who is supposedly going after her?" Hoffman cut Sarah off while showing a slight hint of anger. He was surprised by Sarah's lapse of Judgment.

Sarah nodded embarrassedly.

"Damn it, Ferris. What the hell are you thinking? Renee Walker is a potential witness and a suspect in this investigation and you just let her walked away like that?"

"Sir, according to Kristin, Kirilenko is in the Russian Consulate so Renee arranged a meeting with him in order to draw him out of there, and then we can swoop in and arrest Kirilenko on the basis of attempted murder of a federal witness. That's her plan. I tried to talk her out of it but she wouldn't listen...She said that if she brings the FBI backup with her, Kirilenko will know so she needs to go by herself. Sir, we got to be ready once Renee called me... so please... I know I broke at least a dozen of protocols in the past few hours but we really need to help her before she got herself killed..." Sarah urged.

Hoffman thought about this for a moment. While he was still a bit angry about Sarah letting a witness put herself in danger, but she knew that Renee Walker was right about the meeting. In his past experience of running sting operations, smart criminals often changed the meeting location several times before they give you the actual location, and it was often done in last minute to determine whether or not the people they were meeting with brought backup, and if the people they were meeting with did, then the last minute scrambling would completely screw up the backup's tactical planning. Since Renee Walker was a seasoned FBI agent she definitely thought of that. Although Hoffman didn't like it, he needed to go along with it, because losing an important witness in his investigation was never an option. Besides, if they did arrest Kirilenko, maybe that Russian could shed more light in this giant mess.

"Alright, we will rendezvous with the SWAT and try to narrow down the possible meet location. We move as soon as she called you, understood?"

"Yes sir." Sarah replied. Right now she just hoped she and the FBI could get to Renee in time.

**5:23:07**

After Renee parted way with Sarah, she walked down a few blocks, trying to find a car for transportation. Suddenly, Kristin's phone rang. Instinctively, she picked it up.

"The colonel will meet you at the top floor of the parking lot near 1024 North Broadson." A man with Russian accent said coldly. Before Renee could response, the man hanged up.

Renee thought it's probably not the place of the meeting, and she did not know what awaits her in that location. It could be part of precautions taken by Kirilenko to determine whether or not she brought backups to their meeting. It could also be another ambush set up by Kirilenko. Regardless, in order to clear Jack's name, she needed to follow this through, even if it meant going into the dragon's lair all by herself. As Renee thought about her situation, she noticed a blue sedan parked inside an alley way. The blue sedan was parked with its key still inside the ignition as the owner of the car seemed to be going to a nearby store for a quick errand. Renee decided to steal the car. She felt really bad about it as she reflected on how far she had fallen. She used to be an FBI agent and now she was stealing cars. Renee signed. She tried to remind herself to focus on the more important task at the hand: going to Kirilenko's meeting. As Renee got into the unoccupied car and quickly drove away, she wished all things will go well according to her plan. FBI should be able to arrest Kirilenko and find out that Jack did not assassinate IRK foreign minister.

At the same time, while driving, Jack tried to compose himself. If he was going to protect Renee, he needed to get his head straight first. However, he still didn't understand what Renee's involvement in all of these. Jack remained puzzled. Just as he tried to figure out of the questions regarding Renee, suddenly, his phone broke his train of thought. Jack knew it was Chloe and he anxiously picked it up.

"Jack, I just intercepted another conversation between Kirilenko and one of his operatives. He told him to rendezvous with a forward team on the 6701 Tarpin Street." Chloe reported.

_That must be the place of the meeting._ Jack thought. "Good, any word on Renee?"

"No... I'm still trying to pinpoint her location but it's gonna take some time..." Chloe said nervously.

"Damn it Chloe we don't have the time. I'm gonna try to get to Kirilenko first. Keep trying on finding out Renee's location, and try to contact her if you can." Jack ordered. He thought that if he couldn't find Renee in time, he might as well get to Kirilenko first before Renee. That way he could make sure that bastard would not lay his hand on Renee. He could not let her put herself in such dangerous situation this time around. _Not a chance in hell._ Jack thought. As Jack put the pedal to the metal, he became more and more determined to make sure Renee was safe.

Meanwhile, Renee parked her newly acquired car at the top level of a multi story parking lot, waiting for further instructions. There were only a two or three cars parked on the top level. After parking her car, Renee took a deep breath and tried to prepare for the unexpected. She played out various possible scenarios inside her head. At best, it could just be nothing but a test to see if she was followed. At the very worst, a sniper positioned on the nearby high rise would take her out. The thought of that worst case scenario scared Renee the most. She still remembered what happened in that morning 18 months ago. She remembered the painful moment when the bullet found its mark inside her body. She remembered Jack's near panic face as she lying on the floor and coughing out her blood. As she recalled those moments, Renee felt a sharp pain on her chest. However, as horrible as those moments were, Renee quickly calmed herself down by keep telling her that she was doing it for Jack. She needed to do this. She needed to clear Jack's name. After getting herself ready mentally, Renee stepped out of the car.

On top of a nearby high rise, one of Kirilenko's operatives was scanning the top level of the multi story parking garage with a binocular. Beside his feet was a huge case containing a disassembled Blaser R93 sniper rifle. The operative brought the sniper rifle in case Kirilenko wanted to take that woman out at that spot. Once she saw an auburn haired woman getting out a car which entered the parking lot minutes ago, he quickly checked to see if anyone was following her. After he made sure that there was no tail on that woman. He called Kirilenko to report the status.

"Colonel, I'm on the target. She is clean." The operative reported.

"Good." Kirilenko said, tell her to go to 6701 Tarpin Street."

The operative then called Renee. "The location got changed. Proceed to 6701 Tarpin Street."

Before Renee could response, the operative hung up on her for the second time. At the moment, Renee was relieved that there was no sniper ambush or anything dangerous. However, she knew she wasn't out of the woods yet. She was now heading into the lion's den. After she got into the car, Renee took out her other phone and dialled Sarah's number. Renee thought that Kirilenko probably had operative watching or her from somewhere. She didn't want to take any chances. As a result, after dialling and the call connected, Renee didn't hold the headset close to her ear. She simply slid the phone into her back pocket and then started the car.

"Renee? You there? Renee?" Sarah asked worriedly on the other end of the phone. At the moment, she was getting ready for the field operation. She was already wearing a bulletproof vest.

"Is that her?" Hoffman asked.

"Yeah, she left her phone on. She wants us to track her." Sarah answered with much certainty. "She's leading us to Kirilenko."

"Okay, I'll get Parker on it. We need to move now. Agent Ferris, you are with me." Hoffman said as he headed towards to the rest of FBI field team, updating them on the situation. Sarah nodded as she followed Hoffman.

**5:36:13**

Once Kirilenko and his security team arrived at the 6701 Tarpin Street, Kirilenko's security team parked the SUVs on both left and right of Kirilenko's car. They then got out of their vehicles and held their positions. Kirilenko's security team consisted of 7 heavily armed men in total, including the driver for Kirilenko's car. The driver was positioned in beside Kirilenko's luxury car. There were 3 men on Kirilenko's left flank, standing beside their SUV. There were also 3 men on Kirilenko's right flank as well. All of them were wearing tactical chest rigs with AK magazines in their pouches. Most of the security team were carrying customized AK-102 assault rifles. The receivers of their AK-102 assault rifles had been modified to include tactical rails that allowed them to mount various advance optical gunsights. In addition, two of the security team members were carrying the paratrooper version of M249 SAW light machine guns, which provided the security team with some serious heavy fire powers in case they needed it. The security team was also reinforced by two of Sergeant Pushkin's men, who were the survivors from their encounter with Jack Bauer about an hour ago. They were positoned in front of the security team Kirilenko brought. The forward team Kirilenko sent was patrolling the outer most perimeters, away from meeting place.

The place Kirilenko chose for the meeting, 6701 Tarpin Street, was an industrial complex. Kirilenko and his security team were positioned at an open area surrounded by refineries and warehouses. Those structures overlooked that open area. Naturally, he positioned a sniper in a warehouse nearby and another one in a refinery not far from the open area. Both snipers were carrying Barrett M82 sniper rifles. The big calibre .50 BMG round used by the rifle was perfect for taking out a vehicle as well as the occupants inside the vehicle. Pushkin was the sniper inside the warehouse. Despite having a fearsome large calibre weapon at his disposal, Pushkin also prepared another sniper rifle as backup just in case the large calibre rifle jammed. After he placed his Mk12 Mod 0 SPR (Special Purpose Rifle) outfitted with a telescopic sight and a suppressor besides the wooden box that was under the window, Pushkin placed the Barrett M82 on top of that wooden box and used it as support for the heavy sniper rifle. He then sat down in a small chair behind the wooden box, inserted a fully loaded magazine into the Barrett M82 sniper rifle, and then cocked it. After a loud mechanical click, Pushkin was ready.

Sitting inside his car, Kirilenko thought with two snipers covering the area with anti-material sniper rifles and the heavily armed security details besides him, Renee Walker would have no chance of getting away. _The only way that bitch is gonna get out of this is in a body bag, regardless whether or not she gives me the recording_.

Meanwhile, one member of Kirilenko's forward team was guarding the perimeter of the warehouse where Pushkin set up his sniper's nest. Although he stayed vigilant, the man thought the security measure his boss took was just borderline overkill. _It's just a chick... is not like she brings an army or something..._He thought. Just as he was amused by his own thoughts, all of the sudden, Jack Bauer appeared behind the man. Jack then grabbed the man's left shoulder with his left hand and shot the man's right elbow with his suppressed USP Compact pistol, forcing the man to drop his PP-2000 machine pistol his was holding. Just as the man groaned in pain, Jack quickly pointed his gun at the back of the man's head and pulled the trigger. After disposing the guard, Jack quickly made his way into the warehouse.

On the top most floor of the warehouse, Pushkin was still scanning for any sign of vehicle entering the open area from his left. He knew Kirilenko and his security details were on his right so he aimed his scope at his left direction. Just as he was concentrated on watching the area with his scope, suddenly, Jack Bauer seemingly appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Pushkin from behind. Before Pushkin could even realize what was going on, Jack sliced his throat with a tactical knife he acquired earlier from one of commandos' dead bodies. After slitting Pushkin's throat, Jack literally shoved Pushkin's body down on the floor. He then noticed Pushkin's Barrett M82 sniper rifle. _Jesus, with that kind of firepower, those guys really want Renee dead. _Jack thought as he became even more determined to protect Renee. Jack wanted to use the Barrett M82, but the weapon is unsuppressed so if he fired a shot with that rifle, the sound of that shot would give away his position. Luckily, Jack also saw an Mk12 Mod 0 SPR (Special Purpose Rifle) leaning against the wooden box below the window. Jack thought the sniper must have brought the Mk12 sniper rifle as his backup weapon in case the Barrett M82 jammed. Fortunately for Jack, the Mk12 sniper rifle had a suppressor. After scavenging through Pushkin's dead body for ammo, Jack quickly moved to another window. Jack then unfolded the bipod on the Mk12 sniper rifle and placed the bipod on the window ledge. He began to scan the area through the scope. At first, Jack began to scan through the nearby refineries and structures to see if Kirilenko had placed additional snipers. He quickly found one inside a refinery nearby. Through the scope, Jack saw the balaclava-wearing sniper in prone behind a Barrett M82 rifle. After he saw the sniper, Jack quickly aimed down his scope at him, and focused the center of the reticle on his head. Once he lined up his shot, Jack tapped the trigger and the rifle let out a muffled gunshot. Jack then saw red mist exploded out of the sniper's head. At the same time, Kirilenko and his security team remain oblivious of what had transpired.

After taking out the second sniper and making sure there weren't any additional ones in the area, Jack quickly shifted his focus on the SUVs and the luxury sedan. The SUVs were parked besides the luxury car. There was one armed man standing beside the luxury car. Jack noticed Kirilenko's security details were divided into two groups of three. Each group were guarding both flanks of the luxury car. To make the matter worse, each group contained a man wielding an M249 SAW light machine gun. _Damn it._ Jack cursed mentally after he saw those light machine guns. _Judging by the amount of firepower those guys were carrying, Renee was really gonna have her hands full... Damn it Renee, what the hell did you get yourself into?_ Jack also saw two more armed men standing in front of the vehicles and Kirilenko's security details. Jack recognized those two from the gears and weapons they were carrying. Both men were part of commando team who assaulted Polyakov's ranch about an hour earlier. Among those security details, Jack did not see Kirilenko. _He's probably sitting inside that car or he is not here and this meeting is a setup from the get go. _Jack thought of the worst case scenario as he grew more and more worried about Renee. Just as Jack contemplated on how to take out all of gunmen quickly so that Renee wouldn't have to deal with them, a car drove up to the open area and stopped at the other end of the open area, facing the group of gunmen and their vehicles.

After Renee stopped the car, she took out a burner phone from her messenger bag and quickly dialled the number of one of her neighbours in Chatsworth. Renee knew that neighbour was away on vacation so the call she made would be picked up by an answering machine. Once she heard the bleeping sound, Renee stepped out of the car, and held her burner phone high.

Just as Renee stepped out of the car, the two balaclava wearing gunmen in front of the SUVs approached Renee's position carefully with their weapons raised. One gunman stopped at Renee's 10 o'clock direction, and another one stopped at Renee's 2 o'clock direction. After they stopped near Renee, both gunmen kept their G36C assault rifles trained at her. Despite having two assault rifles pointed at her, Renee seemed to be unfazed by Kirilenko's welcome committee. She remained in Renee Zadan's cool demeanour.

Jack, on the other hand, saw Renee through his scope. _Oh my God... It's really her..._ Jack could swear that his eyes were currently playing tricks on him. Physically, Renee still looked the same as he saw her 18 months ago. She still had the same auburn hair color and she looked insanely fit. Jack still remembered last time he saw her was at St. Andrews hospital. At the time, her face was pale white and she was lying lifelessly on the operating table. Now, she was alive and kicking. Despite Renee's expression was calm and cold, Jack could sense Renee's sadness and somberness. Suddenly, the urge of keeping her safe at all cost overwhelmed Jack. He really wanted to rush down there, grab Renee, and get her away to somewhere safe. He simply could not lose her again. At the same time, his training kept telling him to pull himself together so that he could provide sniper cover for Renee from his position. As a result, Jack kept his weapon trained at those two Kirilenko's goons standing near Renee, ready to take out those bastards the instance they looked at Renee the wrong way.

Meanwhile, Renee stood beside her car and held her burn phone high while Kirilenko's security team still kept their weapons trained at her. She did not see Kirilenko. However, she did notice that beyond the two gunmen positioned on her left and the right, there was a large group of armed men standing besides two SUVs and one luxury sedan. As of now, she was surrounded by Kirilenko's goons. Renee tried to stay calm and collected. She knew with that many heavily armed men present, one wrong move could be the end of her. She raised her burn phone and said loudly.

"Right now I'm on the line with my associate in New York. If any of you try to make a move against me my associate will know, and then the evidence will make its way to either the authorities or the media, so let's not do anything stupid...Now, where's Nicholai Kirilenko?"

After hearing what Renee's said, the two gunmen backed off a bit, but they still kept their weapons pointed at Renee. Renee relaxed a little bit after she noticed the gunmen backing off, but she knew it was not over yet.

At the same time, Jack observed the situation nervously through his scope. He felt extremely tense as he watched the situation unfold. Although those three gunmen backed off a bit from Renee, Jack still kept his sniper rifle trained at those two bozos. He was ready to put bullets in each and every one of them if they started to make a move against Renee. Jack also noticed that Renee was holding a phone. _She must have been taking to someone, but who? _Jack thought as he contacted Chloe.

"Chloe, it's Jack. I have visual on Renee. She seemed to be on the phone with someone. Can you find out who she's talking to and what the conversation about?" Jack ordered in his no none sense tone.

"On it, Jack... Is Renee alright?"

_Is Renee alright?_ Jack really didn't know how to answer the question, considering he only knew she was alive about an hour ago. Physically, she wasn't hurt, but right now, she was like a lamb in front of a pack of hungry wolves. Jack's heart ached for Renee as he continued watching the situation unfold.

"Right now she's in lot of trouble...Just get back to me as soon you have something." Jack replied honestly.

After a short while, the car's doors opened and two men in suits emerged from it. From the information on Kristin's phone, Renee knew what Kirilenko looked like. Therefore, Renee recognized the older man coming out of the car was indeed Kirilenko. _That son of a bitch did take the bait._ Renee thought. Now it was just a matter of stalling him long enough before the FBI arrived. She tried her hardest to hide her anger and disgust for Kirilenko in order to maintain her cool and icy demeanour. Renee knew she couldn't lose it like the last time she was with that son of a bitch Vladimir Laitanan, not with Jack's innocence on the line. She needed to hold herself together.

"I'll call you back in fifteen minute. If you didn't hear from me you know what to do. "Renee said, empathized on her last statement. Kirilenko didn't know she was talking to an answering machine, instead of her fake associate in New York. Renee hoped her bluff would deter Kirilenko from taking any action against her in the next fifteen minutes.

"Renee Walker... You are a hard bitch to find." Kirilenko said. He appeared to be amused by his statement.

"That makes two of us." Renee shot back in full sarcasm.

_You sure are feisty for a soon-to-be dead whore._ Kirilenko thought. "So where's your little friend?" Kirilenko was speaking of Special Agent Sarah Ferris.

"Had to take her out... she simply whines too much." Renee replied with a fake smile. She thought it was what her Renee Zadan persona would have said.

At the same time, Sarah, Hoffman, and the rest of the FBI field team were inbound to Renee's position. Sarah was sitting at the passenger seat inside one of FBI SUVs. Renee's phone hidden inside her pocket was connected to Sarah's phone so Sarah could hear everything about the exchange in real time, including Renee's last remark about her. Although she knew Renee said that for the purpose of maintaining her cover, Sarah still couldn't help but to roll her eyes upward. _Whines too much?_ Sarah was simply annoyed by that. Back at the field office, Raymond Parker already tapped into Sarah's phone and relayed the conversation to Hoffman and other agents in real time as well. The FBI had the meeting monitored.

Meanwhile, Jack was still watching the exchange. After he saw Kirilenko coming out of the town car, Jack was ready to put a bullet in that bastard for all of miseries he had caused. According to General Rawlins, Kirilenko was the one who was instrumental for getting those fuel rods to the hands of Red Square, hence directly causing all of the events in that day, including Renee's supposed death. Not to mention he conducted terrorist attack against innocent civilians in Moscow and the assassination of IRK foreign minister. Right now, he was going to kill Renee. Jack could feel his boiling anger rising inside him, but he remained collected. Right now, Renee was his priority, and he needed to stay calm in order to protect her. All of the sudden, Chloe called.

"Jack. I found something when I was scanning through the calls made from Renee's location. It turns out that Renee is currently on the line with an FBI agent named Sarah Ferris. I already traced the location of that FBI agent. She is actually part of an FBI field team inbound to Renee's position! "Chloe reported.

_That's impossible._ Jack thought. He just saw her hung up the phone a short while ago. _Unless that phone call was some kind of a bluff. So that's why Kirilenko's men haven't kill Renee right away._ _If she is still on the line with someone, she must have hidden a phone somewhere on her._ Jack analyzed. However, there was one burning question in his mind.

"Is she working with the FBI?" Jack asked. More questions popped up. _If so, why is she working with the FBI?_ _How does the FBI know she's alive? Is the FBI investigating Kirilenko?_

"I don't know, Jack...but it looks that way." Chloe answered honestly. She didn't know what to make of the situation with Renee.

After hearing what Chloe had said, something in Jack's mind clicked. _What if the whole thing is just Renee's play?_ Jack thought. It actually made a lot of sense. Jack knew if Renee had the evidence that could prove Kirilenko was behind the attack in Moscow three weeks ago she would hand it to the proper authority, instead of trying to make a deal with Kirilenko for money. She wouldn't sell out her conscience and integrity like that. Her earlier conversation with Kirilenko was probably just a ruse to get Kirilenko out of Russian Consulate, and right now, she kept her phone on so the FBI could trace her location and monitor the situation at the same time.

"How far is the FBI field team?" Jack asked, hoping they would be here within a minute.

"About 20 minutes... It seemed like there were some major traffic accidents on their route."

"Damn it that's not good enough! Can you tap into Renee's phone?" Jack asked. He wanted to listen in the conversation.

"On it Jack, you should have it in a minute."

Meanwhile, after some small talks, Renee decided to get down to the business.

"Where's my money?" Renee asked. She did not want the money nor she expected Kirilenko to bring it, but she needed act greedy in order to maintain her cover.

"Where's the recording?"

"It's in New York. Here's how we gonna work this out: You gonna show me the money, and then I'm gonna give you a location in New York where your men can retrieve the recording." Renee said in a business-like tone as she tried to stall Kirilenko and his men.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Kirilenko replied in a slightly angry tone. "For what I know, you could be giving me fake location or fake recording after you got the money."

"You just have to take my word for it."

"Your word means nothing to me." Kirilenko said. "Maybe your reluctance to show me the actual recording means that you don't have what you claim to have. Perhaps I should just order my men to shoot you and get it over with."

At the same time, after hearing what Kirilenko said, Jack became even more worried. _C'mon, Renee, just try to stall them for a little bit longer... _Jack prayed.

"I don't believe this." Renee tried to act offended. To be honest, she didn't have to try too hard. Despite Rene's calmness at the moment, she was nervous as a wreck inside. Fortunately, she quickly came up with something that she thought would ease Kirilenko's suspicions a bit. "I'm actually trying to look out for your interests and all I get is a death threat? If I have my associate played the recording over the phone the NSA's echelon network would pick that up. If that happened, it won't take long before every intelligence agency around the world connects the dots. What do you think will happen then?" Renee said angrily.

"How do I know if you actually have the recording? Let alone willing to trade it for 10 million dollars." Kirilenko questioned.

"Fine." Renee was started to get annoyed by what Kirilenko's suspicions. "How about we do this: after you give me the money and I give you the location of the recording, I will stay right here in this spot as collateral until your men have the recording and confirm it's real. How's that sound?" Renee thought that should buy her a lot more time. Now she just needed to think of an arbitrary location in New York so Kirilenko will send his men on a wild goose chase. She also hoped that Sarah and the FBI field team would get here soon. _C'mon, Agent Ferris, where are you?_ Renee thought anxiously.

After thinking about Renee's offer for a short period of time, Kirilenko decided to go along with it, despite the fact he still wasn't 100 percent convinced by Renee. "You strike a hard bargain." Kirilenko said, and then he told his aide to fetch the money from the trunk of the luxury car. Although his aide looked confused, he complied nevertheless. As his aide was walking toward to the trunk of the luxury car, Kirilenko said. "You know it's funny... If that imbecile Belicoff didn't drink too much at his daughter's wedding, that gangster wanna-be ex-boyfriend of yours probably wouldn't even know the existence of my facility in Kazakhstan, hence our path wouldn't have crossed, saving us the trouble of going through all of these... unpleasantries."

Renee simply smiled and nodded. The notion of thinking her as that son of a bitch Laitanan's girlfriend made Renee want to puke, but she remained unfazed and brushed off Kirilenko's comment causally. As of the moment, she wondered why the FBI hadn't shown up yet. Suddenly, Kirilenko spoke again.

"You are one stupid bitch..." Kirilenko said. The statement caught Renee off guard completely. "If such recording exist, then you should know who Laitanan's people talked to back in Russia in order to get the information about my facility in Kazakhstan and the 'Silent Night'. I know the people who Laitanan's people talked to and they didn't speak to anyone named Belicoff. This makes me wonder that this recording you mentioned doesn't really exist, does it?"

_Ah Crap..._ Renee cursed mentally. She tried her hardest not to show any fear but she was frightened by this sudden turn of event. She couldn't believe Kirilenko actually pulled a fast one on her. She knew Kirilenko was ex-Russian intelligence but she never anticipate that son of a bitch was this good. _Damn it, Sarah, where the hells are you? _Renee thought. She needed to come up something to salvage this rapidly deteriorating situation fast.

"We are done here. Kill that bitch!" Kirilenko ordered. He didn't even give Renee a chance to explain herself. The two men near Renee took aim at Renee.

As much as Renee wanted to run, she knew it wouldn't do her any good since she was surrounded by Kirilenko's goons. Just as the two gunmen near her was about to fire their weapons. All of sudden, something hit the masked gunman on Renee's 10 o'clock direction, causing him to fell down as a cloud of red mist exploded out of his head. Just before the other masked gunman at Renee's 2 o'clock realized what happened, a bullet seemingly came out of nowhere and pierced through his back, causing him to fell face down. Within seconds, both gunmen near Renee's position were dead.

After the rest of Kirilenko's security team, including Kirilenko's aide, saw what happened, they quickly raised their weapons opened fire at Renee's position. At the same time, Kirilenko also pulled out his MP-443 Grach pistol and started firing as well.

Renee didn't know who did the shooting, but her survival instinct kicked in. She quickly moved behind the trunk of her car as bullets started flying past her. Just as she crouched behind the trunk, hails of bullets slammed into the car. Sparks flew as bullets impacted the body of the car. Some of bullets actually shattered the car windows. As bullets continued to rain down on Renee's car, Renee pulled out her Glock 19 pistol, peeked around her cover, and started firing at Kirilenko's security team. _Where the hell is the cavalry?_ She thought angrily as she continued to exchange fire with Kirilenko's men. However, after firing a few shots, Renee quickly retreated back behind the car again due to the heavy suppress fire from the two M249 light machine guns.

"Renee!" Jack shouted desperately. However, his voice was muffled by the series of gunfire. He wanted to shoot Kirilenko, but protecting Renee remained his top most priority. Besides, Jack didn't have a clear shot at Kirilenko as his shot was obstructed by Kirilenko's aide and other security details. As he saw Renee got pinned down by Kirielnko's men, Jack decided to take out the men with light machine guns first. He shifted his reticle to the man who was unloading his M249 SAW at Renee's direction. The man was on Kirilenko's right flank. Jack pulled the trigger and the man wielding M249 SAW fell down as cloud of red mist exploded out of his chest.

At the same time, Kirilenko was wondering why he the snipers he had positioned hadn't taken out Renee Walker yet. After he noticed one of his security details was shot by sniper fire, he quickly guessed that the shot was coming from the nearby warehouse at his 10 o'clock direction. _That bitch brought backup_... Kirilenko thought angrily. The security details on Kirilenko's right flank were also aware of the mysterious sniper. As a result, the two men quickly used the SUV beside them as cover and started firing their AK-102 assault rifles at Jack's direction. As two gunmen on Kirilenko's right flank starting firing at Jack, the rest of the security details on Kirilenko's left flank did the same. However, after firing at Jack's direction for a short while, they noticed Renee was taking pot shots at them from the behind of her car. Therefore, the security team quickly shifted their focus back on Renee again. They were now engaging both Jack and Renee by alternating their gunfire between both of their targets.

Just as Jack acquired another of Kirilenko's goon in his scope, suddenly, a series of bullets started hitting around the warehouse window he was behind. Quickly, Jack ducked for cover behind the wall beside the window as bullets flew past the window, shattering some of already broken glass in process. Hails of bullets continued hitting the exterior wall around the window, creating series of dents and debris. "Damn it" Jack muttered. He popped out and took some pot shots but the fierce gunfire forced him to retreat back behind the wall again.

Meanwhile, still crouching behind the car, Renee noticed that some of Kirilenko's goons seemed to be engaging another target other than her. Renee thought they were definitely shooting at the mysterious sniper who covered her minutes ago. Therefore, Renee popped out from her cover again and fired her Glock 19 at Kirilenko's security team. As Renee was shooting at Kirilenko's security details, one of her bullet managed to land on the head of Kirilenko's driver, killing him instantly. However, the rest of Kirilenko's men noticed this and shifted their fire on Renee again. As bullets continued slamming into her car and flying past her, Renee quickly retreated behind her cover. Some of bullets also hit the ground on her left and right, kicking up a large amount of dirt as each bullet impacted the ground. Renee injected her spent magazine and inserted a fresh one into her pistol. She wondered who was covering her from afar. _Is it the FBI? Are they here now?_ She thought. After reloading her Glock 19, Renee peeked around the corner of the car and starting firing at the security team on Kirilenko's left flank. As expected, Kirilenko's security team returned fire at Renee as well.

The moment Jack realized that he was not under heavy fire, he popped out of his cover and took aim at the M249 SAW wielding man on Kirilenko's left flank, who was currently shooting at Renee. Jack fired and his target quickly got taken down by Jack's gunfire. Jack then quickly shifted his aim at another of Kirilenko's men near the guy who he just killed. He quickly fired two shots. One shot found its mark on the man's chest and the other shot impacted the hood of Kirilenko's luxury sedan. After noticing two more men got cut down by Jack's sniper fire, some of Kirilenko's security team shifted their fire on to Jack's location again as Kirilenko and others continued to exchange fire with Renee.

After retreated behind the trunk again, Renee injected another spent magazine and inserted another one. Counting the magazine she just inserted, Renee was down to her last two magazines and the FBI hadn't yet arrived at her location. To make the matter worse, the car Renee was using cover was ridden with bullets holes and it was not gonna hold out much longer. She needed to find another new cover. Just as her luck had it, she noticed an abandoned truck parked at her 10 o'clock direction. Despite Kirilenko and some of his goons were still shooting at her, Renee decided to take a chance and began to make a dash toward the truck.

As Renee ran toward the truck, Jack noticed what she was doing so he began to provide covering fire for her. Despite he was still under fire from some of Kirilenko's men, Jack fearlessly fired his Mk12 Mod 0 SPR in quick succession at Kirilenko's men who was currently shooting at Renee. After noticing they were under fire again, Kirilenko and his security team quickly used the vehicles nearby as cover. The two men on Kirilenko's right flank quickly returned fire at Jack's direction. At the same time, Renee made it behind the abandoned truck. She noticed that she a got clear a line of sight on the one remaining gunman on Kirilenko's left flank. Despite that gunman was still shooting at her, Renee popped out from the behind of the truck and fired at him, hitting him twice in his chest in process. After killing the remaining gunman on Kirilenko's left flank, Renee started engaging Kirilenko and the rest of security team on his right flank.

Just when Kirilenko was reloading his pistol, he heard the sounds of helicopter rotors. At the same time, he also noticed that his security team now only consisted of two men plus his aide. Kirilenko let out a string of profanities, and he moved to the trunk of his luxury car to get more weapons. Kirilenko's aide also heard the helicopter approaching. Therefore, he grabbed Kirilenko and told him to make a run for the warehouse which was behind them. Kirilenko reluctantly agreed. He still couldn't believe that he came here to kill Renee Walker and now that bitch managed to turn the table on him. As Kirilenko and his aide retreated toward the warehouse behind them, the rest of his security team continued to fire at Jack and Renee. Renee saw Kirilenko tried to make a run for it, but she couldn't do anything to stop Kirilenko because she was still under fire from Kirilenko's men. "Damn it." She muttered.

Meanwhile, as one of the security personnel shot at Renee, another one took out an M67 fragmentation grenade, removed its pin, and prepared to throw it at Renee's direction. At the same time, Jack saw that. He quickly aimed his sniper rifle at that man with the grenade. He took the shot and the man dropped his already cooked grenade near him as he fell down. Within seconds, the grenade exploded. The explosion and fragments from the grenade killed the remaining gunman instantly. The explosion also caused the nearby SUV to explode as well, creating a huge ball of fire.

After the grenade and the SUV exploded, Renee saw all of Kirilenko's men were down. Quickly, she readied her Glock 19 pistol and ran toward the warehouse which Kirilenko and his aide just went in. She did not want Kirilenko to get away, since he was the only one at the moment who could prove Jack's innocence, not to mention capturing him could also expose the conspiracy behind the terrorist attack in Moscow three weeks ago. Just as she ran past the SUV's burning wreckage, Renee could swear that she heard Jack's voice, telling her to stay back. However, she simply brushed off the thought as her hallucination because she needed to focus on the task at the hand. Renee continued toward to the warehouse.

Jack was calling her desperately, but it seemed Renee didn't hear him. As he watched her running towards the building where Kirilenko had gone into, Jack knew she was going after Kirilenko by herself. At the same time, he also heard the sounds of SUV and helicopters approaching to this location. Jack thought it must be the FBI. Without missing a beat, Jack ditched the Mk12 sniper rifle and quickly rushed downstairs. Right now, Jack's only priority was to make sure Renee was safe. As he ran toward the warehouse where Kirilenko was currently hiding, Jack hoped that any harm would not come to Renee while she was pursuing Kirilenko.

**5:54:27**

After Kirilenko and his aide made their way into the warehouse, Krilenko's aide quickly called for extraction. He then informed Kirilenko that there was an extraction team en-route to pick them up in 5 minutes. However, despite the help was coming, Kirilenko was not happy about his currently situation. _How the hell did this happen? I already got that bitch in my clutches, but somehow she ended up killing all of my security team...What the hell?_ Kirilenko thought angrily.

"Colonel, we should really get moving..." Kirilenko's aide urged.

"Damn it, how does that bitch managed to get a jump on us? Where the hell did she get backups? And how the hell did the US authorities know about the meeting?" Kirilenko shouted out a list of questions angrily. Just as he was about to let out a tirade of profanities, he noticed someone was coming. Instinctively, kirilenko readied his pistol and pointed at the direction of the possible intruder. He also ordered his aide to go around and flank the intruder. His aide nodded. Kirilenko's aide readied his PP-2000 machine pistol carefully moved toward the intruder's right flank.

Renee moved carefully as she held up her Glock 19 pistol. As she moved through the warehouse, she checked her corners cautiously. Right now, she needed to find Kirilenko and take him alive. Renee hoped that he hadn't slipped away yet. All of the sudden, she noticed some movement on her right. Instinctively, she turned around and founded Kirilenko's aide.

"Drop it." Renee said coldly as she pointed her weapon at Kirilenko's aide. Renee's action caught Kirilenko's aide by surprise. However, despite being caught in surprise, the man seemed to be unfazed by Renee. He simply turned around and tried to unload his PP-2000 at Renee. However, Renee didn't give him the chance. Just before Kirilenko's aide could turn around facing Renee and fired his machine pistol at her, Renee shot him twice.

Just as Renee shot Kirilenko's aide, unknown best to her, Kirilenko got Renee in his sight and already had his pistol aimed at Renee. _You bitch had caused me enough trouble today..._ Kirilenko thought angrily as he prepared to pull the trigger.

All of the sudden a shot seemingly came from nowhere pierced through Kirilenko's right arm, forcing him to drop his weapon. Renee, at the same time, caught a glimpse of Kirilenko pointing a gun at her in the corners of her eyes. Without any hesitation, Renee turned around and pulled the trigger. Her bullet managed to hit Kirilenko's right shoulder, causing Kirilenko to fall backward. Kirilenko was shot by the unknown shooter and Renee almost at the same time and entire sequence happened in split of a second. After Kirilenko fell down to the ground, Renee rushed forward while kept her gun trained at the wounded Kirilenko. Just as she moved forward, she saw the person who shot Kirilenko first. It was Jack Bauer.

"Jack..." Renee breathed as her eyes focused on Jack. She was completely surprised and in shock. For a moment, Renee thought she was hallucinating, but it only took her a second to realize it was indeed Jack Bauer standing a few feet away from her. Renee also realized just moments ago when she heard Jack's voice she wasn't hallucinating. That mysterious sniper who covered her throughout the meeting was Jack. Right now, all Renee could do was looking at Jack longingly as her eyes started swimming in tears. Renee was shocked to see Jack here. At the same time, she was happy to see him here, and he was alright despite a few minor cut and bruises.

Jack, on other hand, while still kept his USP Compact pistol trained at Kirilenko, was also in complete shock. Now he was seeing her up close, he could confirm that his eyes were not playing tricks on him. The woman who stood a few feet away from him was indeed Renee Walker. She was indeed, very much alive. As of this moment, Jack was overwhelmed by his emotions and wanted to rush toward her and hold her close inside his arms, but he was still dumbfounded by the fact that she was alive. As a result, Jack continued to look at Renee longingly. He simply didn't know what to say.

Just as both Jack and Renee continued to look at each other longingly without saying a word, all of the sudden, heavily armed men in olive drab showed up and started sweep the area. Those men were FBI SWAT teams.

"FBI! Drop your weapon and get down on the ground!" One of the FBI SWAT team members shouted after he saw Jack, Renee, and the wounded Kirilenko.

Jack simply compiled willingly and dropped his USP Compact pistol. At the same time, despite still in shock, Renee dropped her Glock 19 pistol as well. The FBI SWAT quickly surrounded Jack, Renee, and Kirilenko. Following the FBI SWAT's entrance, Hoffman, Sarah, and other FBI agents also showed up as well.

As Hoffman ordered the field agents and SWAT to secure the area, he was completely caught by surprise after he saw Jack Bauer. What _the hell is he doing here? _He thought. Out of all places, he simply did not expect to find Jack Bauer in this place, but he wasn't complaining. Nevertheless, the FBI got Jack Bauer in custody, not to mention they also apprehended a suspect who was involved in a major international conspiracy as well. Most importantly, an important witness in this case wasn't hurt in process. Right now, he thought since the FBI got all of the players in custody, he should be able to sort out this mess and hopefully, got some questions answered.

As Jack got down on the ground and one of the FBI SWAT team member prepared to handcuff him, all Renee could do was watch. She was still dumbfounded after seeing Jack. Right now, Renee felt like an idiot. She thought that Jack got arrested and he was gonna be in even more trouble because of her. She didn't know what to do. As she embarked on a guilt trip, a lonesome tear rolled down her right cheek. However, Jack gave her an 'It's okay' look. Just as another FBI SWAT team member telling Renee to get down on the ground, Sarah showed up.

"It's okay, she's with me." Sarah said. She noticed Renee was crying silently. As tears rolled down her cheeks, Renee stared helplessly and aimlessly at Jack's direction. Sarah turned around and saw FBI agents getting a handcuffed Jack Bauer up from the ground. Jack continued to give Renee a reassuring 'It's okay' look as he got taken away by the FBI agents. Sarah also saw paramedic arrived at the scene and began to treat Kirilenko while the FBI SWAT stood guard beside him.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here." Sarah said softly to Renee as she began to lead a still-frozen Renee out of the warehouse. Right now, she was glad Renee was alright, and all of this got resolved.

**05:59:57...05:59:58...05:59:59...06:00:00**

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**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

_**Some Random Reflections:**_

_**1. Team Awesome Returns! :**__ As promised, Jack and Renee finally meet, __**but the FBI just has to show up and ruin the moment**__ (LOL). Those two just can't get a break. :)_

_**2. The meeting:**__ The meeting in this chapter is probably one of the complex scenes in the story (IMO). I honestly didn't expect it to be this complex when I was writing it. Basically, I used the deal scene and gun battle following it in the film version of "Miami Vice" as reference point (Michael Mann does shootouts like no others) because it was visually exciting to watch. However, it was also kinda hard to translate all the action on paper. I hope I did it well. I also added elements from the various meetings that took place throughout of 24, such as Sherry Palmer's meeting with Kingsley in season 2, Evelyn Holt's meeting with Henderson in season 5, and Tony's meeting with Wilson in season 7. In addition, the scene where Renee tried to stall Kirilenko is also hard to write for some reasons. I hope I did pull it off._

_**3: What's next? :**__ Well, Kirilenko got caught, but we still got 14 hours to go, so..._


	12. 6:00PM 7:00PM

_**Author's Note:**_

_First of all, thank you all for all of the reviews and supports! I'm so glad that you guys enjoyed the story... Again, to all of readers, you guys rock! :)_

_Second, oh man... I apologize for the super late update again. As usual, life got in a way. This chapter is probably one of hardest chapters I had work on. I ran into a lot of writer's blocks while working on this one. I'll admit this is my first attempt in writing Jack and Renee's meeting after events of season 8 and it's just hard... :S. I just hope I did somewhat acceptable job and this chapter will not disappoint. _

_Third, I will be changing some of Chloe's parts soon in my story due to the Day 8 Epilogue named "Chloe's Arrest" (Which is contained in Season 8 DVD/Blue Ray). I really don't know how this epilogue is gonna play out. Maybe it's just a small thing I could easily explain away (like Chloe got arrested but President Taylor was able to pull some strings to keep her out of jail) or maybe it's something drastic (Russians kidnap Chloe...*shudders*). Regardless the case, I'm gonna try to work what happened in this epilogue into my story. I really hope this epilogue won't change my story so much that I will be forced to rewrite all the Chloe stuff...It's just that as of now, I really don't want to go AU for my story (for obvious reasons)..._

_Anyway, enough with my rambling, that's roll the tape!_

_**Additional Research Note:**_

_**FSO: **__Federal Protective Service. Russia's equivalent of US Secret Service. They are responsible for the protections of Russia's high ranking officials._

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though :P_

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**Previously on 24**

Renee Walker proceeded to her arranged meeting with Nicholai Kirilenko. She hoped that by going to the meeting, she would lead SA Sarah Ferris and the FBI straight to Kirilenko. Meanwhile, after knowing Renee was alive, Jack Bauer rushed to the meeting as well in hope that he could protect Renee. Jack was able to sneak into a nearby building with good vantage point overlooking where the meeting was taking place and provided sniper support for Renee. Renee later arrived at the meeting place and tried to stall Kirilenko long enough for the FBI to arrive. However, Kirilenko found out what Renee was doing and decided to end the meeting abruptly by trying to kill Renee. As a result, Jack and Renee, while unaware of each other's proximity, engaged in a huge gun battle with Kirilenko and his men. After FBI arrived at the scene, Kirilenko tried to escape but he was captured by both Jack and Renee. However, Jack was also arrested by the FBI as well...

**The following takes place between 6:00PM and 7:00PM**

**6:02:27**

After hearing about FBI got Jack Bauer in custody, Secretary of the State Kevin Ross quickly ordered a motorcade to take him to the FBI field office. Ross already discussed the proposal with President Hayworth after talking to his Russian counterpart, and the President agreed to it. Ross actually thought the proposal was quite good. Giving them Jack Bauer, an internationally wanted fugitive, didn't really cost them a thing, and it would bring them a lot more time on the negotiation table. With Jack Bauer already in custody, now he just needed to use the extra time to dig up some dirt on the Russians so that he could leverage them into withdrawing their forces around the IRK border. Just as Ross was going through relevant information in his mind, his aide told him that the Russian foreign minister, Semyon Lugansky called. Ross then took the phone from his aide.

"Mr. Lugansky, good news, the FBI got Jack Bauer in their custody."

"So I have heard." Lugansky said. "How soon can your FBI transfer him to our custody?"

Ross was not surprised that the Russians found out about that, since Jack Bauer was on their most wanted list for murdering their late foreign minister, Mikhail Novakovich. It was reasonable to assume that the Russians kept their ears to the ground about Jack Bauer. It was also reasonable to assume that they were quite eager to get their hands on Jack Bauer as well.

"There are bound to be some processes and paperwork, but don't worry, I'm on the way to the FBI field office to speed things up."

"Good. I'm also on my way there as well."

Ross was quite surprised by what Lugansky just said. _The Russians really want to get their hands on Bauer...or they just don't trust us... _He thought. "Mr. Lugansky, you really don't have to make the trip. My people will deliver Bauer to you once the paperwork is taken care off.

"The last time you people try to hand Jack Bauer to the Chinese; he was able to fake his demise and disappeared into the underground. I just want to ensure that will not happen this time around." Lugansky stated. He remembered that information from the SVR files on Jack Bauer.

"Look, Mr. Lugansky, Bauer was able to pull that off at the time because he had allies inside the CTU. Now the circumstance is different so what you described will not happen. I can assure you that Bauer will be in your people's custody by the end of the day." Ross said in a reassuring tone.

"See that you do, Mr. Ross." Lugansky said.

After Lugansky hung up, Ross began to ponder about why the Russians wanted to rush to the FBI the instance Jack Bauer was in FBI's custody. His instinct told him that there was more to it than Jack Bauer. Therefore, Ross ordered his aide to use her contacts in the FBI LA field office to find out more about the situation surrounding Bauer. He knew something else was going on and he wanted to get the whole picture before talking to his Russian counterpart. _This is gonna be interesting._ He thought.

**6:05:43**

**FBI LA Field Office**

Inside the elevator going up to the field office, Sarah was actually feeling quite relieved. She was finally backed at the office where she could feel completely safe. They got Kirilenko in custody and nothing bad happened to Renee, which meant no more being pursued by Kirilenko's goons and no more random gun battles. Surprisingly, they also got Jack Bauer in custody too. Sarah was absolutely certain FBI would find the evidence that would clear Jack's name in the IRK foreign minister assassination plot this morning. However, despite his innocence in that matter, Jack still had to face the consequences for what he did 18 months ago, particular, the murder of the late foreign minister of Russia. _Things people can do when they are madly in love..._ Sarah thought. She also worried about how Renee was taking the news of Jack's arrest. Renee was obviously not taking it too well.

Renee, on the other hand, despite feeling more composed than before, still couldn't believe what just happened. She was really glad that Jack was alright and it seemed like nothing bad had happened to him during the last 18 months. Renee's original plan was to have Jack coming in safely before he does anything insane or gets himself killed. However, after seeing Jack in handcuffs, Renee instantly regretted her original decision. She wanted Jack to be safe, but she still thought it was her faults that Jack was in this predicament in the first place. _If I hadn't dragged him into that undercover operation...If I had spot that Russian disguised as an EMT at the scene of President Hassan's murder...I should be the one going to jail... _Those thoughts repeated themselves inside Renee's mind as she embarked on her own personal guilt trip.

Suddenly, the elevator door opened. After both Sarah and Renee stepped out of the elevator, Sarah's boss, SAC Hoffman and a female agent approached the two.

"Ms. Walker." Hoffman greeted Renee professionally. "Stan Hoffman, Special Agent in Charge of the LA field office..."

"Where's Jack? I need to see him..." Renee pleaded. She didn't care if she sounded desperate at the moment. She just wanted to see Jack.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Ms. Walker. We are still processing him at the moment. Besides, we also need to debrief you as well." Hoffman said politely. "Agent Torres here will debrief you."

"What about Kirilenko? He is the one behind the IRK foreign minister's assassination, not Jack. You need to get him to talk..." Renee said anxiously. She also needed to see that Jack's name was cleared in the IRK foreign minister's assassination. She thought it was the least she could do for Jack at the moment. However, Jack was still in oceans of trouble because of what he did 18 months ago. Renee's feeling of guilt worsened as she continued thinking about Jack's current predicament.

"Ms. Walker, we're still working on obtaining all evidences and suspects relating to the assassination that occurred this morning, and that includes Mr. Kirilenko and his associates. However, thanks to you, not only we got him in custody, and we also have the evidence that implicates him in the terrorist attack in Moscow as well...That being said, you still need to be debriefed. We need to get a complete picture before we proceed. "Hoffman said in a very professional tone.

Renee wanted to protest strongly. Right now, she didn't care about the stupid debrief and FBI procedures. She just wanted to see Jack. There was so much she needed to tell him. However, before Renee could begin to protest, Sarah spoke to Renee first.

"Renee, you know it's the standard procedure. Besides, I will see what I can do after the debriefing." Sarah said in a reassuring tone.

"O...okay..." Renee reluctantly agreed, and then she followed Agent Torres to an empty office down the hallway for debriefing.

After Renee and Agent Torres disappeared into the empty office, Hoffman spoke to Sarah.

"Is she alright?" Hoffman gestured his head at Renee's direction. "She looked a little out of it..."

"She has been through a lot... Can't imagine what's been like for her in the past few years..." Sarah said. She was very sympathetic to Renee's situation, despite the fact she only got parts of the picture. "What's gonna happen to her?" Sarah asked curiously.

"Well, technically, she's still a federal witness, and now she also has the knowledge that could essentially prevent a potential conflict in the Middle East. Therefore, for her safety, she's going to Witness Protection again." Hoffman stated frankly.

Upon hearing this, Sarah's heart ached for Renee. Essentially, Renee had to give up her life again, not to mention she might not see Jack Bauer again, consider their respective situations. However, Witness Protection was a necessary step to ensure Renee's safety, despite how cruel it was to her. Just as Sarah tried to think of a way to break the news to Renee, Hoffman spoke.

"You sure you're alright?" Hoffman asked, upon seeing Sarah's somewhat somber expressions.

"Yeah...I'm fine." Sarah said with some sadness in her eyes. Sarah was relieved because the whole situation involving Kirilenko got resolved, but the tragedies she had experienced in the past few hours still haunted her. Sarah was still traumatized by her partner's death, her co-workers' demises in that shopping mall, and Kirstin's betrayal.

"Look, Ferris, after your debrief, why don't you go home and get some rest... it's been a long day and I can get other guys on these cases..." Hoffman said after he noticed the sadness in Sarah's eyes. He already figured the past few hours had been hell for her so he decided to give her a break.

"Really, I'm fine...It's just...It's Scott's case, and I wanna see it through." Sarah said stubbornly. She was determined to finish her partner's case.

"I see...okay, just don't burn yourself out." Hoffman acknowledged that upon sensing Sarah's determination. However, he also thought down the road, he might needed to order Sarah to undergo psychological evaluation consider what she had been through.

After hearing what Hoffman said, Sarah nodded gladly in gratitude, and then she began to walk to the bullpen.

"By the way, you did good today, kid." Hoffman said to Sarah.

"Couldn't have made it through without her, sir." Sarah said as she gestured her head toward the office where Renee and Agent Torres were currently in. She really felt bad for Renee and hoped there was some way she could help her.

**6:08:19**

After being transported to the FBI field office, the agents and securities quickly put Jack in one of the holding rooms. While sitting inside the holding room, Jack still thought about Renee and the entire situation. After seeing her up and close, he now believed that she was indeed alive. And from the looks of it, Renee was definitely working with the FBI. Just after he heard Renee's phone conversation with Kirilenko, Jack actually wondered whether or not the Renee Walker he just saw moments ago was the same Renee Walker he knew 18 months ago. He still remembered what Tony did in that day. The Tony Almeida in that day was not the same Tony Almeida he once knew. But after what just went down in that industrial complex, Jack now firmly believed that the woman was indeed the same Renee Walker he once knew. Now he just needed to sort out other questions regarding her. Suddenly, the door to the holding room opened, interrupted Jack's train of thoughts. Hoffman entered the holding room, with a thick vanilla color folder on his hand. He told the security guard besides Jack to give them a moment, and then he sat down across Jack. After the security guard left the holding room, Hoffman spoke.

"Mr. Bauer, I'm Stan Hoffman, Special Agent in Charge of the LA field office." Hoffman said professionally. "We both know the drill, so why don't we just skip all of those formalities and go directly to business..."

"I'm not talking to you until I see Renee Walker." Jack interrupted Hoffman firmly.

Hoffman somewhat expected that. Considering what Sarah told him on the phone, he knew that Jack Bauer's relationship with Renee Walker was definitely more than professional. Also, Jack Bauer was a trained CTU agent. Therefore, Hoffman knew that if Jack didn't want to talk, he would not do so under any circumstance. Therefore, Hoffman decided to take a more diplomatic approach with Jack.

"Well, right now she is being debriefed. How about this: I think I can answer some of your questions regarding Ms. Walker. In return, we're gonna have to answer some of my questions concerning the IRK foreign minister's assassination, how's that sound?" Hoffman said as he opened up a vanilla folder in front of him. He noticed that Jack remained silent. "I'll take your silence as a yes. You are probably wondering why Ms. Walker is alive, is that correct?"

Jack simply nodded. That's one of the questions he been meaning to ask Renee.

Hoffman then started narrating as he opened up the folder in front of him. "About 18 months ago, an FBI's counter-intelligence task force in the New York field office was tracking a very elusive Russian espionage network. The task force had already been at that for quite some times and they couldn't make any head way. That was until they managed to track down a man named Andrei Stukov." Hoffman said as he showed a surveillance photo of Andrei Stukov to Jack. "As it turned out, he was an errand boy for one Pavel Tokerav..."

As Jack heard the name, he felt his anger gradually rising inside him. Despite the fact that Renee was alive, Jack was still angry at that bastard for what he did to her. If Pavel Tokerav was still alive today, Jack would not hesitate to kill him for the second time.

Despite Jack didn't display his anger completely, Hoffman could feel it. Therefore, he quickly continued. "After Pavel Tokerav shot Ms. Walker, he dispatched Stukov to the Saint Andrews hospital to check to see if Ms. Walker was alive or not. The FBI was able to intercept the call made from Tokerav to Stukov, and one agent was able to rush to the hospital in hope that he could secure Ms. Walker in time as a potential witness. However, by the time the agent got to the hospital, Ms. Walker was pronounced clinically dead."

As Jack recalled the painfully memory of seeing Renee lying lifelessly on the operating table, he remembered not seeing any FBI agent present or Russian operative presented at the time. Jack thought that maybe they arrived after he left, or he was just too grief-stricken to notice them. He also wondered what would have happened if he just stayed there for a little bit longer...

"Fortunately, that agent was able to convince the surgeon to try to revive Ms. Walker. As outlandish as it sounds, the surgeon actually succeeded doing so. After she was revived, the FBI decided to put Ms. Walker into Witness Protection..." Hoffman explained.

"If the FBI managed to revive Renee, why didn't they let the CTU know?" Jack questioned Hoffman angrily. He didn't believe this. If the FBI just let the CTU know about this, then Chloe would have contacted him and let him know about this too. He could have been on Renee's bedside, taking care of her, not to mention protecting her.

"Well, according to the report, CTU was infiltrated by a Russian sleeper agent earlier, so at the time the FBI couldn't take the risk. Because of this, the task force kept the circle small. There were only a few people who knew about this. In fact, I only found out about Ms. Walker's existence this morning."

Jack knew Hoffman was referring to Dana Walsh. Jack thought if it wasn't for her, CTU wouldn't have been compromised and he would have known Renee was alive. Not to mention she was also responsible for President Hassan's murder. Jack also thought if he had found out Dana Walsh was connected to the Russians, Renee wouldn't be in her current predicament. The more Jack thought about it, the more he blamed himself for failing Renee. Suddenly, a thought came up in his mind.

"If she was in Witness Protection, why did you pull her out? Why did you put her in danger like this?" Jack accused Hoffman angrily. If Renee was in Witness Protection, then there should be no reason for her to be in the field. He didn't understand why the hell would FBI put her in such perilous situation in the first place?

"By the time we discovered that Ms. Walker is a federal witness, she was already being pursued by Nicholai Kirilenko and his associates. Four of my agents were dead because of that. "Hoffman explained. However, he did leave out the detail about his office being compromised by a corrupt analyst earlier. Hoffman read Jack's file and knew that Jack did not trust any strangers due to his past experiences. Telling him that might agitate him and Hoffman was afraid to imagine the consequences if that happened. Plus, he was sure that Kristin Gordon was the only Russian informant inside his office. "However, Ms. Walker was able to rescue one of my agents who was also investigating the situation. According to the said agent, Ms. Walker was trying to find out more about Kirilenko's operations in US and evidences that could possibly rule you out as a suspect in the IRK foreign minister's assassination..."

Jack was somewhat surprised by the fact that FBI knew Kirilenko's involvement in the IRK foreign minister's assassination, not to mention it was all because of Renee. At the same time, Jack blamed himself again. He should be able to protect Renee if he had known it sooner. He didn't want Renee to clean his mess and put herself in danger like this. Abruptly, another question popped up in Jack's mind.

"How did Renee get mixed up with likes of Kirilenko? How did she know Kirilenko was involved in the Moscow subway attack that happened three weeks ago?" From Renee's conversation with Kirilenko earlier, Jack could already guess that Renee probably had known him when she was undercover inside that bastard Vladimir Laitanan's crew. He just needed to know how much of her conversation with Kirilenko was true. At the same time, Jack's heart ached for Renee. He still couldn't believe because of that case, she was abused and tormented by that bastard Laitanan for the second time. Because of that case, she was shot by Pavel Tokerav. And now because of that case, she got herself involved with Kirilenko. That case had turned her life into a series nightmares and the worst part was: he couldn't do anything to protect her from those nightmares.

"Ms. Walker actually told one of my agents how she came to know Kirilenko. Since you worked with her in the past, you probably knew she spent some time inside an arm smuggling ring run by Russian O.C. In short, she heard the name Nicholai Kirilenko from the target of her investigation, Vladimir Laitanan. Basically, Laitanan told her Kirilenko was running a chemical weapon facility out of Kazakhstan, and he was producing a VX variant called 'Silent Night'. However, at the time, Ms. Walker wasn't sure if Laitanan's claims about the facility and the nerve gas were true because it seemed Laitanan heard of those information through the words of the mouths and he had never met Nicholai Kirilenko. As a result, Ms. Walker only mentioned that name in her report because that was one item she was sure of." Hoffman explained.

"So Kirilenko somehow found out about Renee...and because she knew about the type of nerve gas used in the attack and the facility that produced it, he tried to take her out..." Jack said.

"Looks that way. If it wasn't for her, we would never have discovered this Nicholai Kirilenko's involvement in the terrorist attack in Moscow three weeks ago, and the assassination of IRK foreign minister this morning..." Hoffman said. "Speaking of the assassination, I want to know what exactly went down at the scene this morning."

Just as Jack was about to speak, the holding room door opened.

"Excuse me, Agent Hoffman, Secretary of the State is here. He is in your office and he said he needs to see you right now." Desk Agent Marci Reynolds reported.

"Alright, tell him I will be in my office right away." Hoffman said to Agent Reynolds. He hated being interrupted during his interrogation, but since it was the Secretary of the State, he had no choice but to stop the interrogation temporarily. "Looks like we'll have to continue this after I get back." He said to Jack as he got up. Jack, on the other hand, still tried to absorb what Hoffman just told him about Renee.

After Hoffman left the holding room, he bumped into Sarah in the hallway. Just so happened, Sarah, who just finished returning her Kevlar vest, was on her way to see Hoffman. Before Sarah could speak, Hoffman could already guess what Sarah wants.

"They got 10 minutes." Hoffman said. He knew he will have to get this out of the way first so that Jack would divulge what he knew completely. After he said that, Hoffman quickly walked toward the direction of his office.

_Is it that obvious?_ Sarah thought. In fact, she was prepared to fight her boss on this if he didn't approve it. Either way, she got what she wanted. Therefore, Sarah headed to the holding room and was ready to escort Jack Bauer to see Renee Walker.

**6:14:25**

After Hoffman arrived at his office, two Secret Service agents were already standing guard at his door and the Secretary of the State was already waiting inside in his office.

"Mr. Secretary, I'm Stan Hoffman, Special Agent in Charge of the LA field office." Hoffman said as he shook Ross' hand.

"Agent Hoffman, time is short so I'll get right to the point. You already has a man named Nicholai Kirilenko in your custody, is that correct?" Ross asked. His aide told him that after she found out from her sources in the FBI. Ross thought this was probably the other reason why Lugansky was rushing to the FBI. He just needed to confirm whether it was true or not.

"Yes, we have him in custody." Hoffman answered. _How the hell did he get the news that fast? The FBI hasn't made the information official yet._ He thought.

"And you also have evidence that can prove the Russians were involved in the Moscow subway attack three weeks ago, is that correct?"

"We managed to obtain a record of his conversation, in which he stated he manufactured the type of VX variant used in that attack in Kazakhstan. However, if want to make the case stick, we still need to cooperate with both Kazakhstani authorities and our Russian counterparts in order to further confirm some of the details." It was a shot in the dark, but Hoffman actually hoped the State Department would help the FBI in this case.

_Bingo._ Ross thought. That was exactly the leverage he needed. The record of this Nicholai Kirilenko's conversation should be enough to blackmail the Russians into standing down their forces around the IRK border. Ross did not care whether Lugansky had knowledge of this or not. Either way, it was something the Russians would not want to be made to public knowledge. "Can you get me a copy of Kirilenko's conversation?"

"I'll have my agent bring it for you. There is one small problem: Mr. Kirilenko is claiming that he has diplomatic immunity because he is part of the Russian delegation. We are hoping that the State Department can talk to the Russians and have them wave Mr. Kirilenko's immunity, considering he did committed a terrorist act against Russia..." Hoffman continued.

"I don't think that's possible." Ross said. "Considering we are still at odds with the Russians over the whole Kamistan situation, they probably won't give us what we want. However, since we got the proof that this Kirilenko fellow was involved in the Moscow subway attack, I think I could get the Russians to prosecute him. I mean, for them, what this guy did in Moscow was considered treason..."

"I see. But Kirilenko is also a suspect in IRK foreign minister's assassination. If we gonna hand him over to the Russians, we will lose our only lead." Hoffman protested. He didn't want to hand Kirilenko to the Russians, at least not before he gets to the bottom of things.

"I thought Bauer was responsible for the IRK foreign minister's assassination?"

"Well, we also found evidences that indicate otherwise. Those evidences also pointed to Kirilenko's direction."

"Alright, if Bauer is not guilty of assassinating the IRK foreign minister, that's great. We can hand him to the Russians without any issue at all." Ross said, before Hoffman could object, he continued. "The man murdered their foreign minister 18 months ago. It is obvious that they want him in their custody."

Hoffman somewhat expected this, but he did not expected this soon. What really bugged him was that it seemed the State Department was willing to hand Bauer to the Russians without giving a second thought. _It must be some under the table deal those conniving bureaucrats made with the Russians. _He thought. "Mr. Secretary, with all due respect, we still need more time with Bauer in order to get to the bottom of this..." Hoffman protested.

"Then do it without him!" Ross said. He thought the investigation was just insignificant comparing to the big picture. "The folks at Justice and FBI headquarter in DC had already approved the transfer. Just do you job, process Bauer, and then transfer him to the Russian custody."

"Understood." Hoffman answered reluctantly. _What an A-hole._ He thought. After Ross walked out of his office, Hoffman closed his eyes and sighed in frustration.

**6:17:43**

After her debriefing, Renee was sitting inside the empty office all by herself. Her debriefing was pretty standard, except one small detail that raised some eyebrows. Renee did mention that she applied the enhanced interrogation technique on Kristin Gordon. She was definitely not proud of it, but it did get her the information about Kirilenko's operations, not to mention information that could clear Jack's name. At the moment, Renee didn't care what would happen to her next. Right now, she just longing to see Jack again. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, but she didn't know where to start. For instance, Renee wanted to tell Jack that why she was alive. She wanted to tell him that she tried to find him but was forbidden to do so due to safety concerns. However, as she tried to figure out what to tell Jack first, a sense of dread rose inside her. Renee still thought it was her fault that got Jack into this. _It's my fault that Jack became an internationally wanted fugitive, and now it's my fault that he got arrested..._ The string of thoughts kept playing inside Renee's mind like a recording stuck on infinite loop as she continued to embark on her personal guilt trip. All of the sudden, the door opened, and Sarah entered and then she led Jack inside the room.

"Jack..." Renee breathed as she stood up abruptly. After seeing his face again, all of her troubling thoughts evaporated. She was extremely happy to see Jack, but that happiness only lasted a second once she saw the handcuffs on Jack's wrist. Renee's heart broke into million pieces as the dreadful feeling of guilt came back again.

At the same time, Jack was overjoyed to see Renee again. He had missed her every waking moment for the past 18 months. At this moment, after seeing her close in person for the second time, he was relieved that nothing bad had happened to her and right now, she was safe inside the FBI field office. Not in his wildest dreams he thought he would have a chance of seeing her standing in front of him, alive and well. From the looks of it, she was making progress recovering from the ordeals of that hallowing day 18 months ago.

"Um...I'll give you two some privacy." Sarah said after she saw the way both Jack and Renee looked at each other, and then she closed the door on her way out. After Sarah walked out of the office, she couldn't help but to let out a small smile on her face. She was simply glad that those two star-crossed lovers had found each other again amidst all of the chaos. She was also glad that after all of horrible events happened in this day, at least something good came out of it.

As soon as the door closed, Renee rushed toward Jack and hugged him. Jack, on the other hand, wanted to wrap his arms around her and held her tight, but he couldn't due to those damn handcuffs. Renee knew that, and she didn't mind. As Jack and Renee rested their heads on each other's shoulder, Renee began to cry as she was currently overwhelmed by her emotions. Jack, on the other hand, simply closed his eyes. He still couldn't believe he would have a chance of being close to her again, but here she was. He was thankful for this moment.

After a while, both pulled away from each other, but only for a few inches. Jack noticed Renee was still crying. Jack hated to see her cry. Despite being handcuffed, Jack was still able to caress Renee's cheek and wipe her tears away in process. As both Jack and Renee's eyes met, Jack spoke first.

"I'm so glad you are alive..."

"Jack... I..." Renee wanted to explain everything, but at the moment, she didn't know where to start.

"The FBI told me everything..." Jack said understandingly, after sensing what Renee tried to say.

"I...I tried to contact Chloe but the U.S. Marshals wouldn't let me...then I tried to find you but I didn't know where to look..."Renee explained awkwardly.

"Renee, you were in witness protection and you had no choice." Jack said understandingly. However, his face suddenly turned grim. "I'm sorry you have to go through that...I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you from those Russians... I shouldn't have let my guard down..." Jack said bitterly. During these 18 months, there wasn't one single moment Jack wished that things turn out differently that morning. He just wished that he could turn back the time and tried to protect Renee from that bastard Pavel Tokerav.

Renee was a bit thrown off by what Jack just said. In Renee's mind, considering what she had put him through 18 months ago, Jack had nothing to be sorry for. The feeling of guilt inside her was amplified by what Jack said. "Jack, you got nothing to apologize for... if anything I'm the one who should be sorry... I put you in this position... If I had spotted that Russian disguised as the EMT...if...if I hadn't dragged you into the undercover operation, none of this would happen..." Renee said in between soft sobs as she glanced at Jack's handcuff. She still blamed herself for what happened to Jack.

Jack's heart broke as he noticed Renee's guilt was eating her inside. He did not want Renee to feel responsible for what happened that day. "Hey...It's okay. It's not your fault..." Jack said softly and understandingly as he caressed her cheek.

Renee then put her one of her hands on Jack's hand which was currently caressing her cheek. "Jack...where do we go from here?" Renee asked softly. Deep down, she knew how this story is gonna end. Consider the situation Jack was currently in, he would definitely be facing serious charges because of what happened 18 months ago. As for her, she guessed that the FBI probably would put her in Witness Protection again, because of what she knew. She wished that somehow, Jack and her would magically break out of the FBI and ran away from all of this. However, Renee knew that was just her wishful thinking. Despite her burning desire to be with Jack, the harsh reality they found themselves in made this an impossible task.

Jack, on the other hand, also realized that it was probably their last moment together. Renee was probably going into Witness Protection again, and as for him, he had to face what he had done in that day 18 months ago. Whatever the punishment was, he was okay with it, because now he knew that Renee was alive and well. She was doing okay without him. Jack thought Renee probably would be safer without him around, since he was currently the public enemy number one. Jack seemed to think that it was him that put her in that dark place 3 years ago. Jack then recalled what James Heller had said to him. _You're cursed, Jack. Everything you touch, one way or another, winds up dead._ Jack didn't completely believe any of it until he saw Renee lying lifelessly on the operating table. That image still haunted him to this date. Jack thought what if he was indeed and still cursed? He didn't want to see Renee dying for the second time. He simply couldn't take it. _Maybe it was for the best._ Jack thought. Despite his longing desire to be with her, Jack had to break the news to her. "I have to face what I've done..."

Despite she knew this was gonna happen, Renee still didn't want to face it."Maybe...maybe the FBI will find the evidences that proves the Russians were actually involved in the assassination of President Omar Hassan and the radiological bomb attack...Maybe President Taylor can vouch for you...maybe...maybe I can still be the witness to that case..." Renee didn't care if she sounded desperate or crazy. She just didn't want to face the harsh truth. Her tears started to roll down her cheeks again.

Jack couldn't stand to see Renee cry. He thought it was his mess and Renee shouldn't feel responsible to clean it. It was his personal sin to bear, and he didn't want her to bear it with him. "It doesn't matter... I killed Novakovich...I just want you to know that it's not your fault for what had happened that day. It's my decision, my choice, so I will have to take responsibility and face the consequence..." Jack said determinedly, despite the fact that he wished he could find a way for both he and Renee to be together consequences free.

After hearing this, Renee simply broke down and buried her head in Jack's chest as her tears continued to flow. She still had a hard time accepting the outcome of the situation.

Jack simply held Renee as she cried in his chest. He tried to comfort her by cradling her gently. Jack wished at the moment, he could take all the pain away from her. After a short while, Renee finally looked up to Jack. Suddenly, both his and her lip moved closer to each other, and then they interlocked together. Both Jack and Renee's lips pressed against each other for as long as possible. After their kiss, Renee whispered.

"I don't want it to end like this..."

"You're alive and safe, that what's important..." Jack said softly, and then he forced himself to pull away from her. He reluctantly walked toward the door because he knew if he didn't do it now; it would be next to impossible for him to leave this room without Renee. "I'm sorry..." Jack said as he signalled the security outside of the room to take him back to the holding room.

Heartbroken, Renee simply sat down at the table and buried her face in her hands. _It's not supposed to end like this..._

**6:25:52**

After arriving at the FBI field office, Lugansky and his FSO (Federal Protective Service) details led to the conference room. They were told that the Secretary of the State was here and he would be with them shortly. The two FSO personnel stood guard outside the conference room as Lugansky sat at the conference table, waiting for his counterpart to show up. After waiting for a short while, Ross entered the conference room, leaving his two Secret Service details standing guard outside of the conference room with Lugansky's FSO details. Both diplomats then exchanged a friendly handshake.

"Mr. Ross..." Lugansky said politely as he shook Ross' hand. "I suppose you already have the proper documents ready for Jack Bauer's transfer."

"Yes. However, before that, there is something I need to discuss with you." Ross said as he was sitting down. "It's about a man named Nicholai Kirilenko."

"Nicholai Kirilenko is part of our delegation. One of the reasons I'm here beside Jack Bauer was to ensure his diplomatic immunity wasn't violated by your FBI..." Lugansky stated plainly. Truth to be told, Lugansky really had no love for Kirilenko, especially for his advocacy of hard line policies. But due to Kirilenko's increasing influences inside Kremlin, Lugansky had no choice but to have him tag along with his delegation as a so called 'Energy Advisor'. Now, he was here to bail Kirilenko out because his job required him to do.

"That's where you're wrong, Mr. Lugansky. The FBI has obtained evidences that prove Nicholai Kirilenko is involved in the terrorist activity that took place in Moscow three weeks ago. You see, Mr. Lugansky, your boy here was caught on tape, ranting about how he manufactured the type of the VX gas, a.k.a. 'Silent Night', which was used in that attack." Ross then took out a digital recorder and played the part of conversation between Kirilenko and Renee Walker. Ross only played the part where Kirilenko unknowingly stated that he had a facility in Kazakhstan and the 'Silent Night'.

After hearing the recording, Lugansky made the connection since he knew from his security briefings that the type of nerve gas used was nicknamed 'Silent Night'. If Kirilenko had his own chemical weapon facility that was producing it in secret, then chances were Kirilenko was involved in the terrorist attack in Moscow. After realizing that Kirilenko might be responsible, Lugansky was absolutely shocked. However, he didn't show it on his face. He simply tried to remain calm and see what Ross had to say about this.

"We also have additional evidences that prove what he said on this tape was 100% true. Now, supposedly, if these findings were made public, what do you think will happen then? Russia's reputation is gonna take a hit, not to mention President Suvarov's opposition might use this opportunity to oust him from Kremlin..." Ross said.

Lugansky could see where Ross was going. He knew this information was way too damaging, simply because Russia had already accused IRK for the attack and the Russian military was mobilized because of that. If these findings were made public, not only the Russia will lose the moral high ground she already gained, her international standing would plummet. It would also give the world the impression that President Suvarov has no control of the hardliners inside his government. President Suvarov's enemies might perceive this as a sign of weakness. The more Lugansky thought the more worried he got, despite the fact he still remained in his calm demeanour.

Although Lugansky didn't show any emotions, Ross could tell that he got the Russian right where he wanted. Therefore, he quickly continued. "However, the US has no intention of humiliating the Russian Federation in the international stage, nor do we have the intention of interfering with your internal politics. We simply want to maintain stability in both Russia and the Middle East. Therefore, we are not gonna made those findings public. However, in exchange, we want you to withdraw your forces around the IRK border."

"Mr. Ross. Have you considered the consequences if we withdraw our forces around the IRK border? The Russian populace will consider President Suvarov as a weak leader. What do you think will happen then? Some hard liners will probably use this opportunity to make a power play. I doubt the US will want to see a hard liner become the President of Russian Federation, is that correct?" Lugansky stated his dilemma.

"I anticipated the possibility, and that why we gonna have to play it out carefully. I can convince Dalia Hassan to give us some bodies, preferably, some of her generals, as scapegoats for the attack. She will say and acknowledge that the attack was perpetrated by rogue elements inside her government. On the other hand, Russia will propose a very, very tough sanction against the Islamic Republic of Kamistan in front of the Security Council. The US will back the sanction, so will the UK and France. I think you guys can get the Chinese to back the sanction without any problem. That way, Russia does not look weak, and your boss does not look weak. Most importantly, a war is prevented and no blood is shed." Ross proposed.

Lugansky pondered for a moment. The Americans had really got the upper hand on this one. He was completely caught off guard. However, the Americans did offer not to making their discovery public, and most importantly, they did offer a solution that allowed Russia not to lose face. He thought with Dalia Hassan admitting that she does not have control of her government, combined with a tough sanction from UN, these elements could easily brought down Dalia Hassan's government. If that happened, they could install someone more preferable to them, without even firing a shot. Lugansky also thought his boss, President Suvarov, would go for it. However, his boss would not be happy with Americans' heavy handed blackmail approach, considering what happened with Charles Logan 18 months ago.

"I have to take this to President Suvarov. However, despite you didn't want to destroy our international reputation, President Suvarov does not appreciate being blackmailed like this, so I'm not really sure if he will agree with your proposal. Even if he agrees, the relationship between Russia and US will continue to degrade..." Lugansky stated. He was trying to get the American to give him something more so the proposal wouldn't look one sided.

"How about we still give you Jack Bauer, with a bow tie wrapped around him?" Ross tried to sweeten the deal. "That should put a smile on your boss' face. I hope giving him to the government of Russian Federation still count as a good faith."

_That could work._ Lugansky thought. Since the news of having Jack Bauer in their custody might balance out the news of them being blackmailed. Plus, President Suvarov had told him many times that he wanted Jack Bauer taken care of. Lugansky was not surprised since the Jack Bauer did try to kill him 18 months ago. However, there was still one thing left to discuss.

"I think that could work...We also want Kirilenko released to our custody as well. Kirilenko was ex-GRU, which means he has certain knowledges concerning our country's national securities. I'm sure you understand, Mr. Ross. Plus, I can assure that if Kirilenko was in our custody, he will not become an obstacle in our little agreement. I believe you will also hand over the evidences to us as well, is that correct?" Lugansky requested. He thought that if Suvarov agreed to Ross' proposal, the Kirilenko and those evidences will need to disappear in order to the proposed plan to work.

Ross acknowledged what Lugansky was saying. _It seems like the Russians agreed to our proposal. _He thought. "Of course, those can be arranged. We will hand the evidence to you after you talked to President Suvarov. I will call the people in charge of this case and have them work on releasing Kirilenko to you right now..." Ross said, and then he pressed the conference phone on the desk and asked for Special Agent Hoffman.

**6:31:27**

Sarah came into Hoffman's office after knocking on the door. After she came into her boss' office, she noticed Hoffman seemed stressed out about something. _That can't be a good sign._ Sarah worried as she suddenly got a feeling that something was about to go wrong.

"Sir, there was a woman named Chloe O'Brian called, she left a message saying that she had evidences that could exonerate Jack in IRK foreign minister's assassination and she's on her way here...and she also want to talk to both Jack and Renee as well" Sarah said. She didn't know who this Chloe O'Brian was but she found it strange that this woman just happened to know both Jack and Renee, not to mention she claimed to have additional evidences about the case. Therefore, she reported this to Hoffman.

After hearing this, Hoffman became a bit less stressed. He knew Chloe O'Brian from Jack Bauer's files. She was a former associate of Jack. In fact, he had been trying to locate her in the past few hours. Hoffman thought if Chloe O'Brian was claiming that she had more evidences concerning the IRK foreign minister's assassination, maybe she could shed more lights on the situation as well, especially since Jack Bauer was getting transferred to Russian custody, courtesy of the State Department.

"Okay, I will talk to her. When will she be here?"

"She will be here in an hour." Sarah said. "Also, just let you know, Kirilenko is patched up and currently sitting in Interrogation Two. Miller is prepping him for questioning..."

"That won't be necessary." Hoffman sighed. "We're handing him and evidences concerning his case over to the Russians."

"What?" Sarah was completely dumbfounded after she heard what her boss said. She could not believe what she just heard. "Sir, with all due respect, what the hell is going on?"

"State Department's orders...Apparently, brasses in DC and Justice agree with them too. Our hands are tied at the moment..." Hoffman said while trying not to sound defeated.

"Sir, Kirilenko is our prime suspect in the assassination of IRK foreign minister. He is responsible for the death of four FBI agents, including Scott, not to mention he was responsible for the terrorist attack in Moscow and he tried to kill a federal witness!"Sarah protested angrily. The thought of her partner's death still haunted her. _That bastard killed Scott and tries to kill Renee, and he had a chance to walk?_ Sarah thought as her outrage started to overwhelm her. "Kirilenko is very well connected in Russia, if we give him to the Russians there's a chance he will walk!"

"Look, I don't like it anymore than you do, but Russians insisted that they wanted him in their custody. Apparently, they now know he was involved in the Moscow subway attack, and they want him to be prosecuted for it..." Hoffman explained. He hoped that at least it would give Sarah some solace considering Kirilenko probably would face the faith far worse than death while he was in Russian custody.

Suddenly, a thought came to Sarah's mind. "Son of a..." She muttered as she realized what was going on. "The Russians are probably just gonna kill him in private. They have no intention of putting him on trial because if they do, then they lose the moral high ground for their military actions around the IRK border..." Despite her desire for Kirilenko to pay for what he did, Sarah didn't want Kirilenko to be killed by some hit squad in secret. She did not want to dishonour Scott's death like that. Sarah actually wanted Kirilenko to stand trial for his crimes. She also wanted to truth about Kirilenko's conspiracy to come out. It was probably what Scott would have wanted. She was sure that was what Renee wanted, too.

Hoffman simply nodded. He also realized this might be the case after his phone conversations with Secretary of State Ross. He didn't like any of it, but as of now, with the brasses in DC and Justice Department on Ross' side, he could not do anything about it.

"So, you just let those Russians execute Kirilenko in private? You gonna sweep what Scott and Renee had discovered under the carpet?" Sarah snapped angrily.

Hoffman simply sighed. "Look, I shouldn't be even telling you this, but there's some high level under-the-table diplomatic deal in the work here. Let's just say they want to prevent certain flashpoint from going hot." Hoffman said cryptically without divulging too much. He knew Sarah would have picked it up. "Besides, Kirilenko already has diplomatic immunity and the Russians won't wave it. The Russians are claiming that because Kirilenko is ex-GRU and he knew stuffs the Russians didn't want us to know. Therefore, they are playing hardball and the State Department won't help us, I don't see any way we could have held Kirilenko indefinitely."

After hearing what Hoffman said, Sarah could already deduce what happened. The State Department probably blackmailed the Russians into standing down their militaries around the IRK border by using the information about Kirilenko's involvement in the Moscow subway attack. That explained why they wanted the FBI to hand over Kirilenko and evidences related to the case. Although Sarah understood the reason, she still felt disgusted by the back room deal and the cover-up, not to mention another country still taking the blame for something they didn't do. She was also shocked that her boss actually agreed to this. Suddenly, a worrisome thought hit her.

"About this so-called deal...is Jack Bauer part of it?" Sarah simply guessed. Judging from what Jack Bauer did 18 months ago, the Russians probably wanted his head on a silver platter, too. It was logical to assume that the State Department probably gonna use him as leverages on the negotiation table.

"Yes...we also have to hand him to the Russians as well" Hoffman said in defeat.

"Unbelievable..." Sarah muttered angrily and in disgust as she shook her head. She then stormed out of Hoffman's office. At the moment she totally lost all of her respects she had for her boss.

Hoffman watched and sighed. He decided to cut the young agent some slack. _It might be best for her to learn the harsh world of realpolitik now rather than down the road. _Hoffman thought. He also thought Sarah's passion for truth and justice reminded him why he joined the FBI in the first place. Therefore, he started thinking to see if there was any way he could fight this...

**6:35:08**

For the security guards Benny and his buddy, Ted, their current shift was just like any other typical shift they had done in the past. Being stationed at the guard shack in front of the gate which led to the FBI field office's underground garage, they made sure that no non-authorized personnel trespassed into the garage. The underground garage housed some of LA field office's fleet vehicles, ranging from SUVs to SWAT trucks. At the moment, both guards weren't expecting any vehicle coming into the garage or going out. Therefore, Ted decided to slack off a bit and started reading a magazine inside a booth while Benny was outside on the lookout. Suddenly, Benny noticed two black SUVs drove up and stopped beside the guard shack. Benny didn't notice anything suspicious since both SUVs had a government plates. Just like he had done for countless times, Benny approached the front SUV casually and asked for identification. At the same time, the tinted window of the front SUV rolled down, revealing two men wearing FBI blue windbreakers.

"Can I see your..." Before Benny could finish his sentence, the driver of the front SUV pulled out a Sig P226 with a suppressor and shot Benny three times in his chest. Before Benny's body even hit the guard, the back doors of the front SUV opened and two men dressed in the same uniform as the FBI security guard emerged. One of the men quickly raised his suppressed Sig P226 and stormed into guard shack. Before Ted could react to what happened, the man shot him twice in his chest. After both security guards were dead, the two men dressed in the same security guard uniform began cleaning up the scene by hiding the dead bodies. They also took the dead guard's radios to monitor the FBI security's chatters. At the same time, the driver spoke to his headset.

"Oxide, this is Avatar One, checkpoint Delta is cleared. Avatar Three is in position. We're requesting a camera sweep on the garage before we proceed, over." The driver knew the building security system had been neutralized by their technicians remotely. As of the moment, their technicians were the ones who were monitoring the actual camera feeds inside and outside of the FBI garage. All FBI security could see on their security monitors were carefully manipulated looped footages.

"_Solid copy, Avatar Teams, three hostiles inside the garage, Avatar One and Avatar Two, you are authorized to engage those hostiles._" The person designated as 'Oxide' replied over the radio.

"Roger, we and Avatar Two locked and loaded, Avatar One out." Both SUVs then drove into the garage. After seeing two black SUVs coming into the garage, one of the motor pool's mechanics walked over to greet them as both SUVs stopped in front of him.

"Hey, didn't expect you guys to be back this early..." The mechanic said in a very friendly manner. However, the doors of both SUVs opened and men armed with MP7 submachine guns emerged. To increase their combat effectiveness, their MP7 submachine guns were outfitted with suppressors, 40 rounds magazines, and reflex sights. The two armed men from the front SUV were disguised as FBI agents with their Kevlar vest and blue windbreakers. The four armed men from the back SUV were disguised as utility maintenance workers with their grey overalls. Without any warning, those armed men opened fired on the poor mechanics. After taking out three mechanics in front of them, the armed men who disguised as maintenance workers started sweeping area. After making sure there the garage was clear, the fake maintenance workers began taking out large tool bags from their SUV while the fake FBI agents started cleaning their crime scene by hiding the dead bodies. With their weapons concealed inside their large tool bags, the fake maintenance workers than quickly moved to the ventilation room which as on the same underground level as the garage. After they arrived at the ventilation room, they started tempering with the ventilation control units. One of the fake maintenance workers then spoke to his earpiece.

"Oxide, Avatar Two actual here. We are in the main ventilation room. What's the ETA on Butcher and Carnival?"

"_Avatar Two, Oxide, Butcher and Carnival are currently Oscar-Mike. ETA 10 Mikes."_ The earpiece replied.

" Copy, Oxide. We and Avatar One will maintain readiness until Butcher and Carnival arrive. Avatar Two out." The fake maintenance man ended the radio conversation and then returned to help his comrades taking out the tear gas canisters from their tool bags.

**6:38:53**

After Sarah took care some of her paper works, she decided to tell Renee that the US Marshals would be arriving soon. Also, she wanted to check to see if Renee was doing alright. After she entered the office where Renee was at, Sarah saw Renee sitting at the desk. Her face was somber and from the looks of it, she had been crying for a while. Sarah could have guessed what happened: both Renee and Jack realized the situations they found themselves in, and it wasn't pretty. Sarah's heart ached for Renee. At the same time, she was struggling with the decision on whether or not to tell Renee that FBI was transferring Jack to Russian custody. She thought Renee had the right to know, but on other hand, she was afraid the truth would devastate Renee considering her current emotional instability. Also, Sarah simply didn't know how to break this terrible news to Renee gently, if she decided to tell her.

"Un...Renee, there's some documents I need you to sign..." Sarah said awkwardly as she opened a folder in front of Renee. "I'm sorry... but we're gonna have to put you into witness protection again for the time being...the US Marshals are on their way..."

Renee simply stared at the paperwork. Although she knew this was going to happen but she still refused to acknowledge it. She just couldn't bring herself to sign the documents, knowing that she would never see Jack again. _It wasn't supposed to end like this._ She thought.

"Un...you know what. We can always do it later...it just paperwork." Sarah said after she noticed Renee's pained expression. She really wished that there was something she could do to help Renee.

"What's gonna happen to Jack?" Renee asked somberly, in a barely audible voice.

_Ah crap...How I gonna break this to her..._ Sarah thought. She scrambled her brain and tried to find the gentlest way to deliver such horrible news to Renee.

Renee, on the other hand, noticed Sarah's hesitation. She knew it must be something bad. "What's gonna happen to Jack?" She asked worriedly as a sense of dread slowly crept up inside her. Renee was praying it wasn't something worse than jail time.

Sarah remained in silence as she still tried to come up with a way to let Renee down gently. However, she didn't know what to say that will make such horrible news less horrible.

"Damn it, Sarah, just tell me what will happen to Jack?" Renee demanded with her voice raised.

"The State Department are transferring his custody to the Russians..." Startled by Renee's sudden burst, Sarah just babbled out the truth directly.

Suddenly, Renee felt like the entire room was spinning fast as air in her lungs seemed to be sucked away. _This can't be happening..._ She thought. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Renee remembered the night where Jack allowed himself to be taken by the Red Square so that the CTU could track down the nuclear fuel rods. She remembered she accidentally stabbed Jack prior to that. Now the same thing was happening again, and just as before, she was the one who put Jack in such awful position. Renee also remembered those scars on Jack's body. Those scars served as the painful remainder of what happened to Jack in China. As she recalled the image of Jack's scar, her imaginations started to run wild. The terrible image of Jack being tortured inside some Russian gulag abruptly appeared in her mind. Another thought also emerged from her darkest fear: what if the Russians executed him for what he did in that day? Renee's face turned pale as those horrible imaginations relentlessly assaulted her.

After Sarah saw all of the color had been drained from Renee's face, she cursed herself for babbling that out. She instantly regretted saying that out loud. "Renee, look, there must a way around this...my boss is probably calling the people in DC and the Justice Department as we speak...maybe they can stall the transfer process..." Sarah said as reassuring as she could in an attempt to make Renee feel better. However, it was obviously not working. As a single tear started rolling down Renee's sombre face, Sarah desperately tried to think of other things to say to comfort Renee, but right now, she couldn't think of anything substantial. Suddenly, the door opened, Desk Agent Reynolds came in.

"Excuse me, Agent Ferris. Agent Miller wants you to know that Kirilenko is ready for questioning in Interrogation 2."

"Thanks, tell him I will be there ASAP."

Agent Reynolds nodded and left the room. Sarah then turned her attention to Renee, who was still in the state of despair. "Um...Renee, excuse me for a second, there's something I need to take care of...I'll be right back to check on you..." Sarah said awkwardly, and then she left room.

After Sarah left the room, Renee simply broke down. She buried her head in her arms and cried in completely despair. She already hated the fact that Jack chose to face the consequences for what he had done 18 months ago. However, she didn't expect the consequences to be that severe. She didn't want Jack to be in the hands of those Russians. To make the matter worse, she couldn't do a damn thing to help him. Instead, she sat in the room, feeling helpless and alone, just like that night when she sat in the CTU after being debriefed by Chloe. Renee hated that feeling. She wished she could do something to help Jack. After crying for a while, a thought came to Renee's mind. She recalled what Agent Scott Riley had said to her this morning. Agent Riley actually theorized the possibility of Kirilenko having played some part in both the assassination of President Omar Hassan and the radiological bomb attack a year 18 months ago. _It was a shot in the dark, but_ _that maybe the key to help Jack..._Renee thought. A plan was starting to form inside her head...

**6:43:35**

Under Ross' orders, Hoffman, with two security guards, transported a handcuffed Jack from the holding room to the conference room where Ross and Lugansky were currently in. Apparently Ross wanted Jack in the same room with him and the Russian foreign minister to ensure that Jack would not try to pull any stunt such as faking his demise. At the moment, Hoffman really had it with Ross' attitude and all. Although Hoffman respected the title of Secretary of the State, he did not share the same respect for the current man behind that title. After Hoffman, Jack, and two security guards went into the conference room, Hoffman greeted the Russian foreign minister and exchanged handshakes as two security guards forced Jack to sit down at the far side of the conference table. After exchanged greetings with the Special Agent in Charge, Lugansky turned to Jack.

"The infamous Jack Bauer, I presume." Lugansky said.

Jack, on the other hand, remained in silence as he stared at Lugansky and Ross in defiant. Deep down, Jack knew that there was a possibility that he might be handed to the Russian custody. The presence of the Secretary of the State and Russian foreign minister confirmed it. Although Jack did not want to leave Renee and having her deal with the burden of being a federal witness all by herself, he knew that that he had to face the consequences of what he had done 18 months ago sooner or later. Jack's only solace at the moment was that he knew Renee was alive, and safe, so were his family. For him, that was enough.

"Great, the man of the hour is finally here, can we just hand him to our guest here please?" Ross said in a somewhat joyful tone. He wanted Jack in Russian custody as soon as possible so that the Russian foreign minister would start to make phones calls to his boss. He knew the Russians would hold their end of the bargain. After all, the evidences he was holding was simply too damage for Russia's international reputation.

"Mr. Minister, I have some documents right here for you to sign." Hoffman said in a cold professional manner as he placed a thick stack of documents on the conference table. "However, before you sign those documents, I need to go over some fine details with you and Mr. Secretary..."

"Couldn't we just skip all of that and just have Mr. Lugansky here sign those documents and get what he came for?" Ross protested.

"Mr. Secretary, with all due respect, Jack Bauer was a former high ranking CTU agent and a former DOD employee. Therefore, he has knowledge of some very sensitive information, information that concerns our national securities. He still needed to be processed by both CTU and DOD personnel before we can make the actual transfer..." Hoffman explained. He actually hoped that could stall the overall process so the FBI would have some time to get more additional details about the IRK foreign minister's assassination out of Jack Bauer. Plus, Hoffman needed more time to figure out a way to fight the prisoner transfer. "I apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. Minister. We need to make sure we do this right and by the book..."

"Okay..." Ross said. Despite he did not show it, he was clearly annoyed by what Hoffman said. He honestly thought that this FBI agent was trying to screw with him by putting up walls of red tapes. "That was quite a long time ago... I'm sure whatever classified info Bauer knows are not relevant by now..."

"It's okay. We also wanted this done by procedures so that would be no room for arguments later." Lugansky said to Ross. Despite his eagerness to get Jack Bauer to their custody, Lugansky wanted the transfer to be done by the book so no government agencies in US would raise a stink about it. Lugansky then turned to Hoffman. "As a civil servant like you, I know what's like to be tied down by bureaucracies. They are a pain to deal with but they are the necessities to keep the systems in balance... Now speaking of bureaucracies, I do believe we still have another matter of prisoner transfer to discuss. The transfer of Nicholai Kirilenko..."

As Hoffman discussing the issue of Kirilenko with the Russian foreign minister and Secretary of the State, Jack overheard the discussion. They were transfer Kirilenko to the Russian custody too? Jack wondered. From what he overheard, it seemed the Russian foreign minister now knew Kirilenko was behind the Moscow subway attack that happened three weeks ago and he wanted Kirilenko's head. However, Jack thought that there might be a possibility that the Russians would execute Kirilenko in secret because the truth about that attack would damage their current moral high ground in the international stage. If that happened the truth stayed buried and Dalia Hassan's government would be still blamed for something they didn't even do. It sickened Jack to see good people got the short end of the stick because of political cover-ups. He also worried that once in Russian custody, Kirilenko might use his connections within Kremlin to escape. That possibility frightened Jack the most because he was afraid that Kirilenko might try to go after Renee again. Therefore, Jack thought he needed to do something. He needed to think of a way, but his current situation didn't exactly allow him to have many options.

**6:47:02**

Three FBI SWAT trucks in single line formation drove into the FBI underground garage, where the 'Avatar One' team were already guarding the area to make sure it was clear. Once all three SWAT trucks were inside, they stopped simultaneously. After all three trucks came to a stop, their back doors opened and an army of heavily armed commandos started coming out of those three vans. All of the commandos were dressed in black special force DBU with heavy body armor and protective elbow and knee pads. On top of their body armor were chest rigs and belts with pouches for weapon magazines and various equipments. All of them were carrying FN P90 submachine guns. All of their weapons were outfitted with suppressors, Reflex Optical sights, and laser aiming modules. Some of them were even carrying backpacks filled with additional weapons and equipments. All of the commandos were also wearing black ballistic helmets and S10 gas masks outfitted with tinted visors for resisting flashbangs. Once all commandos were out of their trucks, they quickly regrouping into their respective fire teams and moving towards their objectives.

"Oxide, Carnival One here. Over."

"Carnival One, Oxide, go ahead. Over."

"Oxide, all Carnival fire teams are proceeding to their checkpoints. What's the status on the Butcher teams? Over."

"_Oxide to Carnival Three, Warhorse One and Warhorse Five are currently inserting Butcher teams into LZ. Butcher One and Two will be at their checkpoints within 4-3-0 ."_

"Roger. We'll maintain readiness until contact with Butcher teams is established. Carnival One out."

At the same time, Two AS565 Panther helicopters approached the helipad of the FBI LA field office. The helipad was on top of a multi-story parking lot which was connected to the federal building where the FBI LA field office was resided. Both helicopters were carrying commandos who had the identical weapons and equipments load-outs as the commandos who just invaded the FBI garage. The two helicopters hovered on top of the helipad and its passengers started rappelling down after they dropped the rappelling ropes from their helicopters. Once all commandos were in the top level of the parking lot, they began regrouping and then headed to assigned entry points.

"Butcher Two to Oxide, All Butcher teamsare at the LZ, proceeding to checkpoints."

"_Solid __Copy, Butcher Two. Disciple One is starting the communication jamming sequence. What's your deviation on the timeline? Over."_ Disciple One is a group of combat technicians in van parked near the FBI field office. The van was filled with state of the art electronic warfare equipments and it was disguised as news van so no one would question the antennas sticking out of its roof. Their role was to kill all inbound and outbound communications. They didn't want the world to know what was going on inside the building.

"Oxide, Butcher Two, we're looking at one-mike, but we're hulling ass."

_"Copy__, Butcher Two. Avatar Two deploy tear gas on my mark. Over."_

"Roger, tear gas standing by." One of the fake maintenance workers replied.

**6:53:34**

After a short while, Desk Agent Reynolds decided to check on Renee to see if she needed anything. Just as she was at the door of the office where Renee was currently in, the door suddenly opened and Renee was at the door. Agent Reynolds was a bit startled by the sudden door opening, but she quickly returned to her professional demeanour with the second.

"Ms Walker, do you need anything?" Agent Reynolds asked.

"Um...I'd like to use the washroom..." Renee said awkwardly. She thought she got caught for trying to sneak out of the office she was in. Fortunately, that was not the case.

After Agent Reynolds gave Renee the direction to the washroom, Renee thanked Agent Reynolds politely and left the office. Once she was out of Agent Reynolds' sight, Renee quickly made a detour. She began scanning the area as she tried to locate holding room No.2. In Renee's mind, she thought that Jack wouldn't murder any innocent people if they had nothing to do with her supposed death. Therefore, the late Russian foreign minister Mikhail Novakovich was probably involved in the tragedies that happened on that day. She also had a hunch that Kirilenko might have been part of the Russian machination, mostly because of what Agent Scott Riley told her earlier this morning. As a result, Renee thought if she could get Kirilenko to reveal that Novakovich was involved in the attacks on that day 18 months ago, maybe, just maybe, she could get Jack off the hook. It was a very long shot at the best, but Renee knew she had to try it. She couldn't just sit in idle while Jack being dragged to some Russian gulag.

After searching for a while, Renee quickly saw a door with a plaque besides it that had the label 'Interrogation 2'. As usual, there was a security guard around. The security guard approached Renee once he saw her walking towards him.

"Sorry, ma'am, this area is off the limit. I'm gonna have to ask you to..." The security guard said firmly in a polite manner as he raised his right hand to stop Renee.

Before the security guard could finish his sentence, Renee simply grabbed the security guard's right arm and twisted it. As the security guard screamed in pain, she quickly swept the security guard's right leg with her left foot, causing the security guard to fall on his back. After the security guard landed on his back, Renee quickly grabbed his stun gun from the security guard's belt and stunned the poor fellow. After she incapacitated the security guard, she checked to see if anyone saw what she did. Fortunately for Renee, there was no one in the proximity at the moment. Renee then quickly took the security guard's access card and his Glock 17 pistol. She cocked the weapon with full determination and was ready to go into the holding room where Kirilenko was being held.

Meanwhile, Sarah and Agent Miller were inside the room adjacent to the holding room, observing Kirilenko through the one way mirror. Due to the injuries he sustained an hour ago, Kirilenko's left arm was in a sling and his right arm was wrapped in bandages. His right wrist was also handcuffed to the chair he was currently sitting. Despite the gunshot wounds and being held by the FBI, Kirilenko remained in stoic as he continued to stare at the one way mirror.

"Can't believe Hoffman is releasing this bastard into Russian custody..." Sarah said bitterly as she looked at Kirilenko through the one way mirror. She wanted the Kirilenko to pay for what he had done by standing trials, but she knew that was not gonna happen once he was released into Russian custody.

"Look, Sarah, I know you are still upset about what happened to Scott. I'm upset about it too. Scott was a friend and a stand up guy..." Agent Miller said as he watched the computer monitors in front of him.

"I just wish we have a chance to interrogate him at least...I mean, this guy is responsible for all the miseries that happened today, not to mention he got one of our own in his pockets..."Sarah signed in defeat. This was Scott's case and she felt she was obligated to finish it. However, she did not expect the case to end like this: getting shut down by higher-ups for some shady reasons. Because of that, Sarah felt like she had failed Scott. She thought that there must be something she could do, but she couldn't think of any at the moment.

"Well, according to your witness, Kirilenko was ex-Russian intelligence, which means he is trained to resist interrogations. I doubt we can make him spill his gut, even if we held him indefinitely..." Agent Miller said, referring what Renee told Sarah.

All of the sudden, Renee quickly stormed into the holding room with her newly acquired weapon risen and checked to see if the holding room was clear. Once she saw a restrained Kirilenko, she knew she got the right room. As soon as the holding room was clear, Renee quickly rushed toward the door that lead to the room behind the one-way mirror and smashed the keypad beside the door with the butt of her Glock 17.

"What the hell?" Agent Miller said as he rushed towards the door and punched the code on the keypad, but he was too late. Renee successfully jammed the door. Now he and Sarah were locked out of the holding room where Kirilenko was in.

At the same time, Sarah was in utter shock. _What the hell is she doing?_ She thought. Suddenly, a terrifying thought came across her mind. _Ah crap...she is not gonna do what I think she will do..._ Sarah prayed that Renee would not try to torture Kirilenko, like what he she did to Kristin Gordon. Despite that son of a bitch probably deserved it, Sarah thought it was not the way to get justice.

After Renee disabled the keypad, she flipped the table in front of Kirilenko. She then quickly pushed the table to the door she just came through, and positioned table so that it was wedged between the door and the wall adjacent to the door, making the door impossible to open. Afterward, she shot the keypad on that door with her pistol, successfully jamming door.

Despite the commotion that was happening inside the holding room, Kirilenko remained stoic and unfazed. He was not afraid of Renee Walker. Not even one bit.

"I'm calling the security..." After many futile attempts to open the door, Agent Miller quickly used the phone in the room and dialled for the security.

At the same time, Renee pointed her Glock 17 pistol at Kirilenko. "What's your involvement in President Omar Hassan's murder?" She asked angrily. She was determined to get the information out of Kirilenko, one way or another.

"Renee! Whatever you're gonna do, just stop, please!" Sarah pleaded to Renee desperately through the intercom. She knew Renee was distraught over Jack's current situation, but she didn't think Renee would go this far. She needed to think of a way to end this peacefully before Renee to get herself into more troubles.

"_Go to hell, bitch!"_ Kirilenko shouted back in Russian, and then he simply stared at Renee in defiant.

"Wrong answer!" After hearing what Kirilenko said, Renee shot Kirilenko in his left foot, causing Kirilenko to scream in pain.

Sarah, on the other hand, was completely terrified by what she just saw beyond the one way mirror. She still had trouble believing that Renee was capable of such violence, even after she had witnessed what went down between Renee and Kristin inside that abandoned garage. _Is this what really happened between her and that Wilson guy? _Sarah wondered as she continued to worry about Renee's current state of mind. "Renee, please just stop! I don't think Jack wants you to do this..." She tried to talk Renee down, but it seemed Renee was ignoring her.

"I'm gonna ask you again, what's your involvement in President Omar Hassan's murder?" Renee hissed even louder at Kirilenko, while pointing her Glock 17 at Kirilenko's left knee. However, all she got from Kirilenko was a string of profanities in Russian. As a result, Renee simply put a bullet in Kirielnko's left kneecap. "Tell me what's your involvement in President Omar Hassan's murder, or you gonna be using a wheel chair instead of a cane for the rest of your life!" Renee shouted at Kirilenko again in absolute rage. Right now, Renee did not care what would happen to her. She needed to get to the bottom of the Russian conspiracy. As long as she could get something out of Kirilenko that could help Jack, she could live with the consequences.

"Damn it I can't get through to the security for some reason, we gonna have to break the glass..." Agent Miller said as he pulled out his Sig P228 pistol.

"Just hold on! I think I can talk her down...We might need to get Jack Bauer in here now!" Sarah pleaded to Agent Miller. She didn't want to see Renee to get hurt. Right now, she thought having Jack Bauer present in the room might be the way to calm Renee down fast before Renee did something she was gonna regret.

Meanwhile, in the main bullpen, large amount of tear gas started coming out of the office ventilations on the ceiling. Before all of the FBI agents working in the bullpen realized what was happening, they started to feel the effect of the tear gas. Most of the FBI agents began coughing, crying, and sneezing uncontrollably at the same time. Some also felt like they had been temporary blinded due to the effect of the tear gas.

"_All fire teams, proceeds to your next objectives, you are clear to engage all FBI personnel, Oxide out."_ The order was relied to all commandos in the vicinity. After the order was given, the radio chatters between the commandos increased exponentially.

"Door charges planted, ready to breach!"

"Breaching, Breaching!"

Without any warning, multiple doors to stairwells exploded due to breaching charges, teams of the commandos quickly stormed into the hallways. One team of commandos noticed a few FBI agents and security guards in the hallway, coughing uncontrollably due to tear gas. The commandos quickly shot them in their heads with laser-like precisions.

"Foxtrot elements, sweep left, check your corners."

"Sweep pattern Echo Charlie, go!"

Two teams of commandos quickly busted into the bullpen, where the majority of FBI agents were at. Nearly all of the FBI agents in the vicinity had been incapacitated by the tear gas, making them at the mercy of these commandos. Only a few FBI agents managed to pull out their side arms after seeing the commandos.

"Weapons free, take them out!" Without any hesitation, the commando teams opened fired on the FBI personnel inside the bullpen...

**06:59:57...06:59:58...06:59:59...07:00:00**

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**:O Hope you guys enjoy the story, please let me know what you think :)**

_**Some Random Reflections:**_

_**1. Jack and Renee:**__ Well, truth to be told, their meeting is probably one of the most challenging stuffs I have ever worked on, mostly because of the complex relationship that goes between those two (and amplified by the fact in the story, Jack thought Renee was dead but in reality she didn't). As a result, I rewrote the chapter for nearly countless of time. As I said in the very first chapter, 'Day 9' is my first venture in the world of fan fiction, so this is the first time for me to write something 'fluffy yet filled with angst'. In the end, I hope I did stay in their characters and do a somewhat acceptable job on the part (*fingers crossed*). And about the kiss... well, originally I don't want to include it but after much deliberation I just thought what the hell and put it in anyway (LOL)._

_**2. Who are those commandos?**__ Why is it that like every time Jack gets intimate with Renee, something bad happens? (*facepalm*)...And who are those dudes anyway? All I can say is that this is not random...As for the assault on the FBI field office, I admit I'm reusing the plot element of the past seasons, but I kinda want the assault to be a bit more tactical (hence the Trojan horse tactics and synchronized multi-plunge attack) instead of the whole 'entire team going through the tunnel at once' thing. But to be fair, during the Japanese embassy hostage crisis in Peru (1996), over the course of 4 months, the Peruvian military prepared and launched Operation Chavín de Huantar (The name as in reference to a Peruvian archaeological site famous for its underground passageways). The operation involved special force commandos going through underground tunnels (which were dig from adjacent houses prior to the assault) to order to penetrate the heavy defense barricade set up by the hostage takers. The operation was a success due to the efficiency and coordination involved. The final raid scene from the Michael Bay flick "Bad Boys 2" was said to be inspired by this event. To be honest, originally I was thinking about using this as the basis for the assault, but since 24 had done it twice in a row already (season 6 and season 7) so I ended up going with the Trojan horse tactic. _


	13. 7:00PM 8:00PM

**Author's Note:**

First of all, I'd like to apologize for the super, super, super late update. After I finished chapter 12, I have been swarmed with work. As a result, I didn't actually type any word in this chapter for about a whole week. And to make the matters worse, when I resumed working on the chapter, I hit multiple writer's blocks which I'll elaborate in the note in the end of the chapter. Also, there were some distractions at the time. All of those actually contribute the delay along with my tardiness. Again, I apologize for the late update. I hope this chapter won't disappoint.

I want to say that I'm really happy you guys are enjoying my story, and I couldn't thank you enough for those reviews. You guys really rock!

Also, as mentioned in previous chapter, I'll be modifying the Chloe's parts in my story due to the Day 8 Epilogue named "Chloe's Arrest". I probably will make the change once I get the detailed information about this little episode. Hopefully it's nothing major.

Anyway, enough with my rambling, that's roll the tape!

**Additional Research Note:**

**FSO: **Federal Protective Service. Russia's equivalent to US Secret Service. They are responsible for the protections of Russia's high ranking officials.

**SitRep:** Short for "Situation Report"

**Disclaimer:** I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though :D

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**Previously on 24**

After Jack Bauer was taken into FBI custody, SAIC Stan Hoffman interrogated Jack and explained to him about why Renee Walker was still alive and her involvement in this mess. Afterward, Jack was finally reunited with Renee. Much to Renee's dismay, Jack decided to face the consequences for his actions 18 months ago. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Seymon Lugansky arrived at the FBI Field office to oversee Jack Bauer's custody transfer as well as bailing Nicholai Kirilenko out. Secretary of the State Kevin Ross also arrived at the FBI field office as well. After hearing there are evidences that could prove the Moscow subway attack was perpetrated by Kirilenko, rather than IRK radicals as Russian authorities claimed, Ross decided to use the evidences as leverage in order to force Russians to agree on withdrawing their forces around the IRK border. Lugansky agreed, but he still wanted Jack Bauer and Kirilenko to be transferred to Russian custody. Ross agreed to Lugansky's demands. Through SA Sarah Ferris, Renee managed to learn thatt Jack being transferred to Russian custody. Guilt-ridden and shocked by the turn of events, Renee decided to take the matter into her own hands. She deducted Kirilenko might have information about Russia's involvement in the late IRK President Omar Hassan's assassination 18 months ago. Therefore, she decided to get the information out of Kirilenko and planned to use the information to help Jack. Much to Sarah's horrors, Renee barricaded herself in the interrogation room with Kirilenko and proceeded to conduct enhanced interrogation on Kirilenko. At the same time, a group of mysterious commandos managed to infiltrate the FBI field office, and began opening fire on anything that moves...

**The following takes place between 7:00PM and 8:00PM**

**7:01:32**

**FBI LA Field Office**

The conference room was actually a floor above the main bullpen. In front of the conference room there was a working space where a few desks, file cabinets, and sofas occupied it. The working area was at the center of the building so the main air duct was above it. As a result, large amount of tear gas started flooding into the working area, incapacitating the FBI staff in that area in process. Despite the close proximity to the working area, the tear gas didn't travel into the air ducts above the conference room due to the way the ventilation system was setup. Therefore, the people inside the conference room did not suffer the affect of tear gas. However, after seeing the tear gas coming out of the ventilation duct above the working area and hearing the multiple loud bangs at the same time, the Secret Service and FSO security details knew something was seriously wrong. Instinctively, Secret Service and FSO agents quickly rushed into the conference room as mysterious commandos stormed into the floor and started shooting at everything that moved. At the same time, SAIC Stan Hoffman, Secretary of the State Kevin Ross, Russian Foreign Minister Seymon Luganksy, and Jack Bauer also noticed the disturbance outside the conference room. After seeing both tear gas coming out of air ducts and heavily armed men in the working area in front of the conference room, Jack knew the building was under assault.

"What the hell is going on?" Ross asked, upon seeing Secret Service agents and the Russian FSO agents rushed into the conference room. However, instead answering Ross' question, one of the Secret Service agents quickly grabbed Ross and moved him away from the glass wall and behind the giant conference room table. One of the FSO agents did the same with Lugansky, leaving the other FSO and other Secret Service agent covering both doors of the conference room.

At the same time, the two security guards besides Jack quickly radioed for backup, but all they got was static. Therefore, they pulled out their Glock 17 pistols and rushed out of the conference room from one of the doors. However, just as both of them got out of the door, one of the commando fire teams showed up in front of the conference room at the same time. Upon spotting the two security guards, the four men team efficiently dispatched the two security guards by shooting both of them with their suppressed FN P90 submachine guns. After killing the two security guards, the commandos focused their attentions to the people inside the conference room.

After seeing the two security guards got gunned down in front of the conference room, Jack, despite being handcuffed, quickly moved behind the file cabinet behind him and used it as cover. Hoffman, on the other hand, quickly drew his Sig P228 pistol from his holster and moved behind the conference table as the Secret Service and FSO protection details began firing at the commandos. As soon as the first bullet flew past them, like highly trained professional soldiers, the commandos quickly took cover behind various obstacles and returned fire. The large amount of gunfire from commandos' FN P90 submachine guns instantly shattered the glass wall of the conference room, reducing it to a collection of small glass debris. During the initial exchange, one of the Secret Service agents managed to hit one of the commandos in process, but due to the body armor the commando was wearing, the commando just fell onto his back behind the cover. The victory was short lived as remaining commandos was able to kill the Secret Service agent and the FSO agent who were guarding the doors to the conference room in return. After seeing the two of the protection details went down, one commando fired a couple of shots at the conference room. His shots only hit the conference room's wall and giant conference table. The commando then signalled his other two teammates with one of his hand, ordering them to advance toward the conference room. The two commandos nodded and moved toward the conference room with their weapon raised.

Jack, upon seeing what the two commando advancing towards the conference room, quickly dived toward the dead FSO agent's body and used the dead body as cover. While lying down against the dead FSO agent's body, Jack quickly picked up the USP Compact pistol the FSO agent dropped nearby and then opened fire at the incoming commandos. Jack shot one of the incoming gunmen twice in his chest and then followed a shot directly to his head. As Jack's bullet punctured the commando's gas mask, the commando dropped the flashbang grenade he was holding. The flashbang grenade was gonna be thrown into the conference room, but now it was dropped near the other commando's feet. Instantly, the flashbang went off, effectively blinding second incoming commando. Hoffman, upon noticed the situation, quickly popped out from the conference room table and opened fire the second incoming commando. One of his shot landed in the second commando's left eye, killing the commando in process. The commando who gave the order to advance was also affected by the flashbang. However, before he could retreat behind his cover, Jack quickly shot him in head, killing him instantly.

The commando who got shot in his body armor noticed all three of his teammates were dead, so he retreated and radioed for backup.

"Butcher Five to all fire teams. We encountered heavy resistance in Sector 7, requesting backup. Over."

"_Butcher Five, this Butcher Three actual, we're currently finishing up our sweep in Sector 3. We'll RV with Butcher Six and then proceed to your position, ETA 5 Mikes."_

"Solid copy, Butcher Five. We'll keep 'em sweating until you arrive." The commando said as he began to fall back.

At the same time, Hoffman noticed Jack had acquired a weapon and managed to kill two commandos despite still being handcuffed. Normally, in the same situation, he would tell the suspect to drop the weapon while kept his side arm trained at him. Jack Bauer was still considered to be a dangerous and unpredictable fugitive, and Hoffman didn't know what he would do next. However, on the other hand, the FBI field office was attacked by unknown number of well-equipped gunmen and Jack actually helped them repelled the attackers. Hoffman had read Jack's files, and despite what happened 18 months ago, Jack was a man of integrity. After brief hesitation, Hoffman decided to trust his instinct.

"Jack! You gonna need this!" Hoffman said as he threw the handcuff key towards Jack. "The OPR is gonna have my head for doing this, but I need your help. We are going to get these people out of the building and you're gonna help me... If you try to screw me in any way I will not hesitant to shoot you, understand?"

"Understood, you have my word." Jack said in his no-nonsense tone as he put the gun beside him and quickly uncuffed himself.

"What the hell are you doing, Hoffman? Are you completely out of your mind?" Ross protested angrily.

"Mr. Secretary, with all due respect, we need all the help we can get!" Hoffman countered firmly. Right now, his top priority was to get the Secretary of the State and Russian Foreign Minister out of the building safely. The rest of the politic and procedure stuff could be dealt with later on. Judging by the use of tear gas by these mysterious attackers, Hoffman thought that most of his agents were probably incapacitated by the tear gas. Therefore, the situation was quite dire. Desperate measures must be employed. Hoffman's instinct told him that Jack wouldn't try to screw him over, but he still need to keep a watchful eye on Jack. After all, the Russian Foreign Minister wanted to take Jack into Russian custody and the Secretary of the State was willing to let that happen. There was no incentive for Jack to help both of them, but Hoffman decided to take the chance and trust Jack.

Despite his calmness in this serious situation, Jack was actually worried. He was worried about Renee's safety. Right now, all he wanted to do was to rush out of the conference room, try to find Renee, and get her out of the FBI field office. The building was under attack and Renee happened to be caught in the middle of this mess. This was simply unacceptable to Jack. He already lost her 18 months ago and he was not gonna lost her again. However, despite his burning desire to find Renee, Jack knew that right now those gunmen's reinforcements were coming and he needed to work with Hoffman and those VIPs' protection details in order to survive the onslaught. Despite his strong dislike for Ross and Lugansky, Jack thought that one was still the Secretary of the State and one was still a high ranking foreign government official, hence he couldn't just leave them. After a brief struggle between his desire to find Renee and his sense of duty, Jack decided that he would get these people out as fast as he could, and then he would go search for Renee. Jack knew that Renee was a survivor and could handle herself, but that still didn't make him less worried. He prayed that Renee would be still alive and not a scratch on her by the time he found her.

"Those men are probably regrouping; we needed to move. Where is the nearest stairwell?" Jack asked Hoffman in his usual no non-sense tone, while scavenging the dead FSO agent's body for extra ammunition.

"Nice try, Bauer, is this part of your plan? Having your goons attack the FBI to cover your escape?" Ross accused Jack angrily. He knew that when Logan administration tried to hand Jack over to the Chinese, Jack was able to facilitate his escape and disappeared into the underground. Therefore, he assumed that it was one of Jack's ploys to escape Federal custody.

"Down the hall to the right." Hoffman said as he ignored whatever non-sense coming out of Ross' mouth. And then he turned to the Secret Service and FSO agents who were protecting Ross and Lugansky respectively. "Take the Secretary and the Minister, go through that door and then headed to the south east stairwell. Jack and I will cover you." The door Hoffman mentioned was the door on the conference room's right, which led to the hallway. The Secret Service agent and FSO agent nodded as they kept their respective VIPs covered.

Jack also nodded at Hoffman, and then both of them bolted out of the conference room and took cover behind the desks in front of the conference room. At the same time, a team of four commandos showed up near their position. Both Hoffman and Jack quickly popped out and opened fire at those arriving gunmen. However, as soon as those commandos saw both Jack and Hoffman popping out from behind the desks, they quickly dispersed and took cover behind various desks and file cabinets nearby. Once the commandos were behind cover, they returned fire at Jack and Hoffman's position. The storm of bullets assaulted the desks relentlessly, creating small explosions of debris made of parts of desk and various office accessories that were on the desks. Many of shots also hit the wall of the conference room. The small pieces of wall debris rained down at Ross, Lugansky, and their protection details as all of them were staying low behind the conference room table at the moment.

After suppressing both Jack and Hoffman, two of the commandos quickly retreated behind their cover and started reloading their FN P90 submachine gun. At the same time, other two commandos rushed toward Jack and Hoffman's position, with their weapons aimed at the desks which Jack and Hoffman using as covers. If either Jack or Hoffman popped out of their respective covers, the commandos would be ready for them. Jack, while behind the cover, sensed the commandos' approach. He knew that despite the bullets stopped flying, if he popped out from his cover, the gunmen would have shot him before he could get a shot off. Therefore, Jack simply lowered his gun to the ground level and fired. His bullets travelled through the narrow space between the desk and the floor and hit both commandos in their feet, causing them to fell onto the floor. Hoffman, noticed what was happening, quickly popped out of his cover and shot both commandos in their heads before they could get up or raise their weapons at him. At the same time, the other two commandos popped out of their cover and resumed firing at both Jack and Hoffman. However, Jack also emerged from his cover and began shooting at both commandos. After exchanging couple of shots, Jack managed to hit one of the commandos in his head, but that didn't deter his teammate from stopped firing.

"Get those people out of here, I'll cover you!" Jack said to Hoffman as he continued to fire at the lone commando who was still shooting at them.

Hoffman acknowledged that and backed into the conference room while kept shooting at the commando's direction at the same time. He then signalled the VIPs and their protection details to move toward the door on the right of the conference room, which led to the hallway. As Jack continued to unload his bullets at the commando, the Secret Service agent quickly grabbed Ross and headed out of the conference room. Following the lead of the Secret Service agent, the FSO agent did the same with Lugansky.

"Jack, I'll cover you, go!" Hoffman shouted to Jack after he saw that the Secretary already left the conference room and Russian foreign minister was in process of doing so. Using the conference table as cover, he began to open fire at the commando. Jack, who on the other hand, already ran out of ammo for his USP Compact pistol, so after hearing what Hoffman said, he quickly reloaded his USP Compact pistol, and then retreated back to the conference room as Hoffman continued to engage the gunman. After moving into the conference room, Jack proceeded toward to the conference room door which led to the hallway.

After exiting the conference room, Ross saw the aftermath of the carnage that happened in the hallway coupe minutes earlier. Bodies of dead FBI agents lay motionlessly on the ground, and there were blood splatters everywhere, accompanied by large numbers of bullet holes on the wall and ground. Ross literally panicked. It was like looking at a scene out of a horror film. Looking beyond the carnage, Ross saw the door to fire escape further down the hallway and there were no hostiles in sight. Wishing nothing more than to get the hell out of the place, Ross simply ran toward the fire escape, disregarding the rest of the group. Having no choice, the Secret Service agent chased after him. Lugansky saw Ross' irrational action after he and his protection detail exited the conference room. He tried to warn Ross not to be so impatient but Ross was already running at full speed toward the fire exit. After Jack exited the conference room following Lugansky and the FSO agent, he saw Ross was already near the fire exit and the Secret Service agent was couple feet behind him.

"Mr. Secretary!" Jack yelled, urging Ross to stop. Although he didn't have much of the respect for the man behind the title, Ross was still the Secretary of the State, and right now, Ross was not thinking rationally. Just because one didn't see the danger didn't mean the danger was not there. There was a possibility that the stairwell was not clear and swarmed with gunmen. Therefore, Jack thought Ross needed to have Secret Service clear the stairwell first before proceeding. As he saw Hoffman was in process of exiting the conference room, Jack decided to chase after Ross and the Secret Service agent.

Despite Jack's yelling, Ross didn't stop. Right now, the only priority in his mind was to get out of the building in one piece. Just as he was approaching the fire exit, all of the sudden, the fire exit door opened and a flashbang grenade was thrown at his feet. The flashbang then went off, effectively blinding Ross and the Secret Service agent who was a couple feet behind him. The instant the flashbang went off, two commandos came out of the fire exist. Ross, at the moment, was screaming in pain as he was temporarily blinded by the flashbang. His hearing was also affected as well. After seeing both Ross and the Secret Service agent incapacitated by the flashbang, without any remorse, the two commandos simply opened fire at both Ross and the Secret Service agent.

"No!" Jack yelled desperately as he watched the two commandos gunning down the Secretary of the State and the Secret Service agent in front of him. Suddenly, waves of rage overtook him. Already had his gun raised, instinctively, he opened fired at those two commandos who just shot at Ross and the Secret Service agent before they even had a chance of refocusing their aims on Jack. Jack knew those commandos were wearing body armors so he skilfully placed his shots on their heads. After Jack's bullets pierced through both commandos' gas masks, both commandos collapsed onto the floor. Jack then quickly moved toward Ross and the Secret Service agent's body to check if they were alive or not. Sadly, both men were dead due to the multiple gunshot wounds on their chest. Despite it was Ross' own mistake that got him killed, Jack still couldn't help but to feel responsible. Suddenly, he heard a faint crackled radio conversation. Realizing additional gunmen were coming; Jack quickly grabbed the radio off one of dead commandos' body and rendezvoused with Hoffman, Lugansky, and his FSO detail.

"We can assume more are on their way...we need to lay low for a while. Is there some place safe?" Jack asked. Since the stairwell in front of them was out of the question, he thought they needed to hide somewhere first before coming up the next course of action.

"We can use some of the offices down the hallway." Hoffman said. He actually saw exactly what went down upon exiting the conference room. Although he disliked Ross, Hoffman still thought he shouldn't have died. He also felt a sense of guilt since he failed to protect the Secretary of the State. However, he knew this was not the time to feel guilty. Right now, getting the Russian Foreign Minister to safety was his top most priority.

As the sounds of footsteps grew closer, Jack and Hoffman knew that they needed to keep moving. Hoffman then led Lugansky and the FSO agent toward the opposite end of the hallway. Jack also moved with them while covering their flank at the same time. Before more commandos showed up, the group disappeared around the corner of the hallway.

**7:14:53**

Fortunately for Renee, Kirilenko, Sarah, and Agent Miller, tear gas was not pumped into interrogation room and the observation room. However, due to the soundproof design of both rooms, all four were not aware of what was going on outside. At the moment, Renee was pressing the barrel of her Glock 17 pistol against Kirilenko's right knee. However, Kirilenko remained defiant and continued to stare at Renee with growing intense hatred. Just as Renee was about to shoot Kirilenko in his right knee, both Renee and Kirilenko heard faint, distance sounds that were similar to explosions. The interrogation room was usually soundproofed in order to eliminate any distractions for both interrogators and the suspects. Despite being soundproofed, the sounds of those breaching charges were still loud enough penetrate the soundproofed walls. Although they had no idea what was going on, Renee's instinct told her that something was not right. While still had her gun pressed against Kirilenko's right knee, Renee turned her head and looked at the one way mirror in confusion, signalling the FBI agents behind the one way mirror that she was aware of the disturbance outside and wanted to know what was going on. Although she could only see herself and a wounded Kirilenko on the one way mirror, she knew that Sarah was behind it. Renee hoped that she could give her some answers on what was going on outside of the interrogation room.

On the other hand, Sarah and Agent Miller also heard the sounds of breaching charges went off. Although they did not know it was caused by the commandos' breaching charges, they also got the feeling that something was not right. As Sarah and Agent Miller wondered what caused the disturbance, they saw Renee, who seemed to stop torturing Kirilenko temporary and looked at the one way mirror in confusion. They both knew Renee heard those sounds as well. Agent Miller's thought those sounded like breaching charges. _What the hell..._he thought. Already had his weapon out, Agent Miller decided to venture outside of the room to check out the situation. He moved to the door that led to the hallway and ordered Sarah to stay put.

"I'm gonna go outside to take a look, you stay here and try to talk her down..." Agent Miller ordered Sarah. Although Renee seemed to stop her interrogation at the moment, Agent Miller still wanted to get her away from Kirilenko and out of the interrogation room.

"O...Okay." Sarah nodded. At the moment she was a bit nervous. _Those sounds sounded like explosions_..._What the hell was going on outside_? She wondered as her imagination began to run wild. Sarah just couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible had happened.

"Agent Ferris, what's going on outside?" Renee asked, knowing that Sarah could hear her behind the one way mirror. She lifted the barrel of her pistol off Kirilenko's right knee, and then re-pointed her pistol at Kirilenko. Despite she was a bit distracted by the unknown disturbance outside, Renee still didn't let her guard down.

On the other hand, Kirilenko seemed to be unfazed by the sounds of those breaching charges. He noticed that Renee seemed to be distracted by it. _Pathetic bitch..._ he thought. Despite he was in tremendous pain at the moment due to the gunshot wounds on his left foot and his left knee Renee had inflicted a few minutes ago, Kirilenko still didn't want to talk. He was determined to not give the woman in front of him the satisfaction of breaking him, even if he had to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

"Renee, I don't know what is going on outside, but can you just stop what you are doing for the moment? I know you are still angry about Jack's situation but this is not right way!" Sarah pleaded over the intercom.

After hearing Sarah's plead, Kirilenko simply let out a sinister smile. He thought whoever behind the one way mirror was just naive and stupid, because she just gave him a piece of information he could use. Kirilenko heard the voice behind the one way mirror mentioned the name "Jack" twice. He could already guess it was probably Jack Bauer. He recalled the agent behind the one way mirror said that something along the line of Jack did not want her to do this. Therefore, maybe Jack Bauer was someone close to this Renee Walker. It was a long shot, but he got nothing to lose at the moment.

"What's so damn funny?" Renee said angrily. She thought she shouldn't be surprised that Kirilenko was amused by the confusion caused by the distant unknown loud bangs.

"Jack Bauer...he is someone important to you, isn't he?" Kirilenko asked rhetorically. His voice was a bit shaky due to the pain in his left foot and left knee.

_How the hell did he know that?_ That was Renee's first thought. However, Renee also thought it shouldn't be a surprise since Kirilenko could have probably guessed that through the information he got on both her and Jack. Still, she became worried. Renee tried hard to suppress her feelings for Jack, which she didn't want to show in front of Kirilenko.

Despite Renee trying hard to not show any emotion, Kirilenko was still able to sense that the woman's demeanour changed for a slight second after he mentioned the name Jack Bauer. Therefore, Kirilenko knew his wild guess was right. Jack Bauer was someone important to her. He could use that information to his advantage. "When I get out of here...I'm gonna track Jack Bauer down... I'm gonna make him suffer...and I'm gonna make you watch...and then I'm gonna kill him right in front of you..." Kirilenko taunted.

After hearing what Kirilenko said, the image of Kirilenko's men torturing Jack appeared in her mind. She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't stand seeing Jack get hurt, especially considering the hell he had been through because of her. Suddenly, the rage which was building inside Renee suddenly reached the boiling point. Renee simply tucked her Glock 17 into her jeans at the small of her back, and then she grabbed Kirilenko by his collar and threw him onto the floor. Both Kirilenko and the chair he was sitting fell violently onto the floor. As Kirilenko lay on the floor of the interrogation room, in one smooth motion, Renee took out her Glock 17 again and pressed the barrel of the gun against Kirilenko's left eye. With determination, she was ready to put a round through Kirilenko's left eye. At the moment, Renee thought that she couldn't let this psychopath live, so that he has a chance to hurt Jack.

"Damn it Renee! Just stop!" Sarah pleaded desperately over the intercom. Renee was already in more troubles than she could image and Sarah didn't want Renee to get into more. She also didn't want Renee to do something she ended up regretting later, like killing Kirilenko in cold blood. Sarah already regretted spewing out the news of Jack being transferred to Russian custody earlier. However, she never would have thought Renee to react in such extreme fashion over the matter. Sarah thought she needed to get into the interrogation room fast to stop Renee's madness. Instinctively, she picked up the phone and dialled for security. Sarah thought they need to get Jack Bauer in here fast. He was probably the only one who can stop Renee from killing Kirilenko.

At the same time, Kirilenko simply let out a sinister smirk on his face, like he was daring Renee to kill him. Just as Renee was about to pull the trigger, she began to think about the both times she had lost control. The time she had lost control and tortured Alan Wilson, Renee lost her job and ended up in a very dark place. The time she lost control and violently killed Vladimir Laitanan by stabbing him multiple times, resulting CTU lost their only lead on finding those nuclear fuel rods. Upon revisiting those memories, Renee suddenly realized that she couldn't lose control again, not with Jack's life on the line. Renee knew that she needed to get Kirilenko to confess about his involvement in the late IRK President Omar Hassan's murder, so she could prove that there was indeed Russian involvement in the terrorist attacks that occurred on that day, and maybe, just maybe, getting Jack off the hook in process. However, if she killed Kirilenko, then there would be no way to prove the Russian cabal's involvement. Renee couldn't let that happen. After she retrained herself from pulling the trigger, Renee simply put the gun away and took couple steps back from Kirilenko. She then turned around with her back facing Kirilenko and then embraced herself tightly, trying desperately to hold herself together.

As Sarah held the handset and hoping someone would answer from the other end, through the one way mirror, she saw Renee walked away from Kirilenko. Sarah then simply sighed in relieve. She was glad that Renee seemed to finally come to her senses and didn't execute Kirilenko in cold blood. However, Sarah knew that she still needed to get Renee out of the interrogation room since she didn't want to see Renee get into more troubles. _She didn't deserve that...not after what she had been through..._Sarah thought. At the same time, she also began to wonder why the hell none was answering from the other end of the phone.

After seeing Renee walked away from him, Kirilenko simply laughed, like he was mocking her for not being able to pull the trigger. He tried to sit up using his left hand as support because his right arm was currently in a sling. Even though the gunshot wounds inflicted by Renee and the wounds he suffered during his apprehension caused him tremendous pain, Kirilenk still tried to tough it out.

"Pathetic Bitch..." he muttered after he managed to sit up against the wall.

Renee heard what Kirilenko said to her. Suddenly, she began to have flashbacks of that night where that bastard Vladimir Laitanan taunting her to get up after Vladimir took a swing at her. Infuriated, she quickly drew her gun, turned around, and opened fire once at Kirilenko's direction. Renee's bullet only grazed Kirilenko's right cheek and hit the wall. Ignoring the flesh wound on his face, Kirilenko continued to laugh at Renee, spewing profanities in Russian as well. Renee simply ignored Kirilenko's laughter. Renee was absolutely shock by her involuntary reaction to Kirilenko's taunts, and she couldn't believe what she just did. Maybe her anger got the best of her. Maybe her subconscious prevented her from killing the only person that had information which could possibly helped Jack in his situation. Still in disbelief, Renee leaned against the wall behind her and slowly collapsed on the floor, giving short and desperate breaths in process. She wanted to cry but couldn't. All she could do right now was trying to compose herself again.

After seeing what went down in the interrogation room, Sarah was absolutely shocked. _What the hell is she thinking? She could have killed him!_ Sarah protested in her mind. Despite Renee had stopped whatever she was doing at the moment, Sarah thought that Renee's mental state was becoming a time bomb, which could go off again in any given second. In desperation, Sarah dialled for the security again for the second time. However, the line seemed to be still down. Sarah then began to wonder what was going on outside. She also wondered about why there were sounds of explosions earlier and why the phone lines were dead. Suddenly, a horrifying thought came across her mind. _What if it's a bomb and FBI was under attack? _However, she quickly dismissed the thought because it was simply sounded too outlandish. Sarah thought that no one was stupid enough to attack a building full of armed federal agents. Therefore, she dialled the phone for the third time, hoping it was just a glitch in the system. She also wondered why Agent Miller hadn't returned yet...

After as Agent Miller entered the hallway, he quickly smelled the lingering smell of tear gas. _Damn it, this can't be good._ He thought. With his weapon raised, he ventured further and further down the hallway and checked his corners cautiously. As he was moving, he saw bodies of his colleagues and fellow FBI agents lying on the hallway. There were also blood spatters on the wall was well. Despite being with the bureau for a relatively long time, Agent Miller was still shocked and disturbed by the gruesome sight in front of him. He swore that he would make whoever did these atrocious act pay. All of the sudden, further down the hallway, he saw a few heavily armed men with gas masks moving in formations and clearing the area at the same time. Those men were not wearing the standard olive drab color the FBI SWAT wore. _Who the hell are these jokers? _Agent Miller thought angrily. He knew that directly engaging those armed men were suicide, therefore he needed to find some cover first. He moved toward to an office on his left and tried to open the door. Just as the luck had it, the door was locked. All of sudden, one of the commandos spotted Miller.

"Contact!" One of the commandos reported and began opening fire at Agent Miller's direction. Efficiently, the commandos fired couple muffled shots from their FN P90 submachine guns outfitted with suppressors in quick succession. Three of the shots landed Agent Miller in the chest and one hit directly in Agent Miller's head, killing him instantly.

"Hostile eliminated. Maintain sweep pattern Papa Alpha." One of the commandos said. The rest of his teammates then resumed their room-to-room sweep for any hostile elements.

**7:24:05**

Inside a seemingly abandoned warehouse, a group of mercenaries had set up shop there. The mercenaries had transformed the empty warehouse into a fully functional base of operation akin to a small military forward base. Due to the fact that the warehouse was the center of the mercenaries' operation, the security was insanely tight. There were guards patrolling the perimeter of the warehouse. The guards were dressed in plain clothes and carried easily concealable MP7 submachine guns. The mercenaries also had placed two of their snipers on top of the warehouse and a loading crane nearby, overlooking the key entry positions. Inside the warehouse, there were various vehicles, ranging from motorbikes to armor trucks. There were also miscellaneous military crates littered inside the warehouse. It appeared that these mercenaries had brought enough military grade arsenals that could literally outfit a small country's military. In the center of the warehouse, a command center was set up there. The area where the command center was set up comprised desks with desktop monitors and other high-tech equipments. There were technicians sitting at those desks, busy inputting commands and talking to their headsets. In front of those technicians was an array of huge LCD TV screens that were mounted on a rack-like support structure. It was like a wall made of LCD televisions. Each LCD TV screen displayed various type of information, but the biggest one was used to display the layouts of the FBI LA field office, and the real-time movement of all the commandos inside the building. The commandos were carrying radio transponders that allowed the people at the home base to track their movements as well as monitoring their statuses. Right now, at the center of this make-shift command center, a European man stood there and monitored the situation with undivided concentration. As an experienced black op operative, Erik Kessler knew running an operation like this was quite difficult and dangerous due to the fact they were assaulting a building full of armed federal agents. The assignment was given to him in very, very short notice, and there were multiple objectives they needed to accomplish in this assignment. Kessler thought he managed to come up with a workable assault plan considering the insane time frame he was given. He had planned the operation so that the element of surprise and the use of tear gas should mitigate the risks. However, he still expected casualties. He knew for operation like this one, anything could go wrong in an instant. He had learned that in various combat missions when he was serving in the French Foreign Legion's 5th Foreign Parachute Regiment in his younger days. Despite expectation of casualties, Kessler was confident that his men would complete their objectives. His men were comprised of elite operators, mostly former Special Forces, who were with him when he started his mercenary outfit. In addition to that, due to the massive Federal investigation on many private military companies, such as Starkwood, three years prior, many disgraced private military contractors had found themselves jobless and their reputations smeared due to the investigation. Therefore, the underground guns-for-hire market was suddenly swarmed with influx of experienced, highly trained operators. Kessler also recruited a lot of these men to his mercenary outfit to further boost their ranks.

"Oxide to Butcher Two, what's the sitrep on Butcher Six? Over?" Eric Kessler said to his earpiece as he noticed something strange. One of the Zulu team's radio transponder was moving further and further away from the other one, and it behaving like the commando was purposely evading his teammates. Normally, the operatives were trained work in teams, as opposed to going lone wolf. Therefore, he asked the nearby commandos for a report of the situation.

"_Oxide, Butcher Two here. We found two bodies in front of the south east stairwell. It's Butcher Six. Hostile elements had taken one of our guy's radio transponder. Over."_ Kessler's earpiece replied.

"Solid Copy, Butcher Two. Oxide to all fire teams, be advised, the current radio channel has been compromised. Switch to secondary secure channel. Over." Kessler said calmly, while signalling one of the technicians working besides him to switch the communication channel. The technician nodded and did so. Kessler then thought if the hostiles had taken one of his men's radio transponder, then he could track those hostile elements. Kessler then spoke to his earpiece again.

"Oxide, Butcher Two, we are currently tracking the hostile element. The hostile element is currently in Sector 11. Sweep the area with escalated aggression. Butcher One will RV with you in checkpoint Juliet. ETA 2-2-0 Mikes. Over." Kessler ordered

"_Solid Copy, __Oxide, we'll proceed to the area with escalated aggression. Over."_

After hearing the acknowledgement of his orders, Kessler continued to observe the situation through the array of LCD TVs. He thought whoever this hostile element was, it was probably some Federal agent who wanted to play cowboy. He was confident that this minor annoyance would soon be taken care off.

**7:31:18**

Using the radio he had obtained from the dead commando, Jack, Hoffman, Lugansky, and his protection detail were able to evade the commandos' search patterns and managed to find an empty office where they can temporarily hide inside. They needed to regroup and think their next course of actions. After entering the empty office, Hoffman had tried the landline and his cell phone, but none of them worked. Jack and Hoffman both realized that the commandos had probably sabotaged the phone lines and employed frequency jamming devices in the vicinity of the FBI field office. Jack began to wonder about the mysterious attackers. _Who are these guys?_ Judging by the equipments and tactics these guys were using, these guys were definitely professionals and they knew what they were doing. _What exactly is their objective?_ Jack thought. From Lugansky's conversation with Ross and Hoffman earlier, Jack knew that despite Kirilenko would be in Russian custody, the Russians were probably gonna execute him privately so Moscow wouldn't lose any moral high ground over the situation with IRK. But what if someone in Moscow shared the same political views as Kirilenko? Jack thought it that Kirilenko definitely had allies in Russia. _What if Kirilenko's allies tried to extract him out of the FBI custody? And what if Kirilenko's allies knew what he knew...Oh my God, Renee!_ Suddenly, Jack's anxiety increased tenfold. He worried that one of mercenaries' objectives was cleaning up any evidence of Kirilenko's involvement in the nerve gas attack on Moscow's subway system, which included Renee Walker, who could link Kirilenko to that attack. The more he thought about it, then more worried Jack became. Sudden, a message from the radio he acquired from the dead commando broke his train of thoughts. The message indicated that the commando knew he had been monitoring their communications so they switched to a different channel. Hoffman heard that as well, and knew that their situation had just gone from bad to worse.

"Jack, there's another stairwell not far from here. From those guys' sitrep earlier, they just finished their sweep there so they won't be there for at least another 10 minutes. We can make a run for it..." Hoffman stated.

Jack simply nodded. The sooner he finished helped Hoffman escorting the Russian foreign minister to safety, the sooner he could try to find Renee. He just hoped he was not too late. He didn't know what he will do if he was too late to save Renee. He didn't even want to think about such possibility.

"Goddamn it, who the hell are these bastards?" Hoffman said angrily. After hearing the commandos' radio conversations, he knew those commandos were all over the place, and to make the matter worse, they seemed to be hell-bent on killing every FBI agents. Upon thinking that, anger boiled inside Hoffman. He had worked with those agents day and night. He swore that when the situation was settled, he was gonna find every bastard that did this or had a hand in this attack. Whoever they were, they were gonna pay.

"I don't know... Possibly they are the extraction team for Kirilenko..." Jack stated.

"Mr. Bauer, so are you saying those men out there are Kirilenko's men? That bastard..." Lugansky said angrily. He was outrage by the overall situation he found himself in. "First he attacked his fellow Russians with nerve gas 3 weeks ago and now this? I swear when I get out of here, Kirilenko and his friends will pay...there will be no place on Earth for him to hide..."

Jack didn't care about Lugansky's opinion on Kirilenko. Right now, Renee's safety was still his primary concern. Suddenly, Jack thought of something.

"Damn it, if they knew we're monitoring their communication it's possible that they already start tracking us through this..." Jack said as he looked at the radio on his hand. After he stated the possibility, an idea came to his mind. "If they are tracking us through the radio transponder, I can lead them away from here. Those guys will start converge to my position. That should create an opening for you to escort the foreign minister out of the building..."

At the moment, Lugansky was puzzled by Jack's behaviour. He wondered why was Jack willing to pull such suicidal stunt to get him out of this mess. Lugansky was the man who was gonna transport him to Russia, where he would face the consequences for his actions 18 months ago. He thought that Jack had every reason to just leave him in this mess. However, he didn't do so. As actions spoke louder than words, Jack's actions in the past few minutes demonstrated what kind of man he was, which was a lot different than the pictures those Russian intelligence reports painted. Despite he knew that Jack murdered his predecessor, Lugansky knew Mikhail Novakovich was very far from a boy scout. As he looked at Jack in surprise, Lugansky decided to re-evaluate his opinions about Jack Bauer.

"Jack, that's suicide! You saw those guys' handiwork back in the conference room and in the hallways...those guys will kill you if they catch you..." Hoffman protested.

"Then I'll make sure that won't happen." Jack said with absolute certainty and conviction. He knew it was a risky move, but it was their only play. He saw Hoffman in action and knew that he was a competent FBI agent, so escorting the Russian foreign minister out of the building should not be a problem for him, especially when those gunmen were busy tracking him. Jack thought that he would have to evade those commandos and afterward, he planned to start searching for Renee.

Once Hoffman saw Jack's determined expression on his face, he knew he could not make him reconsider. He still considered that it was a suicidal play for Jack. However, having read Jack's files, Hoffman knew that Jack had survived against the impossible odd throughout the years. He just hoped his luck would not run out on him this time around. Despite Jack calmness, Hoffman could also sense that he was worried about something. He could easily guess what that something was.

"Last time I checked, she's in the office 627, a floor below us." Hoffman said, referring to Renee. "Hope you find her in time, Jack."

"Yeah..." Jack simply nodded, and then he moved to the door, ready to get out of the office to distract those mercenaries. He really appreciated Hoffman telling him where Renee's possible location. Jack knew Renee was a survivor and she could take care of herself. But these people seemed to be highly trained mercenaries. She was gonna have her hands full dealing with them. _She could be in really deep trouble as of now..._ Jack thought. He prayed that when he found her, he would not be too late.

"Good luck." Hoffman said to Jack, and then he signalled Lugansky's protection detail to be ready to move.

Without any hesitation, Jack opened the door and ran out of the office. He moved in the direction away from the Hoffman and Lugansky's current position.

At the same time, inside the mercenaries' base of operation, Kessler quickly noticed the target he was tracking started to move. The movement was clearly indicated on the LCD screen which displayed the both the layout of the building and positions of his men. Kessler observed that the target was moving towards to the south east stairwell. With haste, he spoke to his earpiece.

"Butcher Three, be advised. Hostile element is moving towards Sector 12."

"_Roger that, Oxide, we're ready for them. Over."_

**7:36:51**

After waiting anxiously inside the observation room for a while, Sarah became more and more worried about the overall situation by the second. She had tried the phone again and again for nearly countless times, but the phone refused to work. To make the matter worse, Sarah's cell phone also refused to work. She simply couldn't get any signal. After seeing both the landline and cell phone were not functioning, Sarah became quite terrified and paranoid. _How come Miller isn't back yet? Something bad definitely happened outside...and that cannot be good..._Sarah worried. She had no idea of the situation outside, and there was no way to communicate with outside world. The uncertainty of the overall situation literally sent shivers down Sarah spine as her imagination ran wild. Sarah simply froze as she began to imagine the worst possible scenarios she could think of.

After sitting on the floor on the interrogation room for a while, Renee was able to pull herself together. Kirilenko had stopped laughing since the pain from his multiple gunshot wounds had weakened his fighting spirit considerably. Now, he just sat against the wall quietly, trying to conserve his strength. Once things were quieter inside the interrogation room, Renee began to notice something strange. Normally, if something serious like this happened inside the interrogation room, the security would tried to get into the room immediately and stop whatever was going on inside. However, it had been a while since she tortured Kirilenko, and Renee hadn't noticed any signs of security personnel attempting to break through the barricaded she had setup inside the interrogation room. _Something was definitely wrong._ Her instinct kept telling her. Despite the fact that she was scared because of the unknown, Renee tried to remain in her calm and collected demeanour.

"Agent Ferris...Can you hear me?" Renee asked. "What is going on outside?"

Renee's voice snapped Sarah out of her panic, frozen-like state. She then reminded herself that she was an FBI agent and she needed to stay calm and tried to assess with the situation first. Right now, the phone was not working, like someone deliberately cut the phone lines. Her cell phone was not working either. Therefore, Sarah thought she needed to go outside of the observation room and find out what exactly happened.

"I don't know...The phone lines seem to be dead. I'm gonna go outside to check out what happened..." Sarah said through the intercom. She was terrified because she had no idea what was waiting for her outside, but she knew she had to suck it up. Sarah quickly pulled out her Glock 26 pistol from her holster. She then summed up all of her courage and opened the door.

"Agent Ferris! Wait..." before Renee could finish her sentence, she heard the sound of door opening. Sarah must forget to turn that off, probably due to the nerve-wrecking situation she was now facing. Renee could sense Sarah's the nervousness and fear in her voice. One thing Sarah actually alerted Renee the most: The phone lines seem to be dead. _The sounds of explosions and non-functioning phones...Could it be that FBI was attacked? _Renee thought about the situation. Abruptly, a troubling thought hit Renee. _What if what was happening was part of efforts to extract Kirilenko?_ She thought. _Kirilenko was definitely smart enough to have this kind of contingency in place if he ever got captured. If that's the case...Oh my God...Jack!_ Suddenly, a chill ran through Renee's spine. _What if Jack got caught in the cross fire?_ Renee then became extremely perplexed and worried. She thought she needed to find Jack before something bad happened to him. Renee thought that she had already screwed up his life more than once from that horrible day, and now Jack was in danger because she put him inside the FBI field office. Therefore, she needed to go out and help both Jack and Sarah. Quickly, she got up from the floor and walked toward the unbarricaded door that led to the observation room. The electronic lock on that door was broken, courtesy of butt of Renee's Glock 17 from earlier. As a result, Renee had to fix the wiring of the electronic lock, hoping she could unlock the door by undoing the damage she did to the electronic lock in the first place.

After opening the door, Sarah walked out with her pistol raised. Just as Sarah came out of the observation room, she witnessed the most horrible sight: dead bodies, including Agent Miller's body, lying in the hallway. However, before Sarah could even comprehend what she had seen, she caught some movements around the corners of her eyes: four heavily armed commandos advancing on her position in tight formations. These commandos also saw Sarah coming out of the observation room. Instinctively, Sarah quickly turned to her right and opened fire at those commandos. At the same time, the commandos, who already had their weapons up, scattered and returned fire at Sarah's direction. Sarah managed to dodge to her right towards the observation room she just came out of. Despite Sarah's quick reflexes, one of commandos' bullets from his side arm still managed to hit Sarah in her left abdomen seconds before she made it into the observation room. Sarah let out a pained groan as the burning, instantly painful bullet impact literally knocked her backward. Her back then hit the observation room's door frame as she was knocked backward by the bullet impact, and then she collapsed onto the floor. Maybe it was the adrenaline, or maybe it was her will to survive, despite being wounded, Sarah somehow managed to crawl away from the door frame and further into the observation room.

"Sarah, are you alright? What the hell is going on?" Renee asked anxiously after she heard the sounds of gunshots through the intercom, which was followed by Sarah's pained groan. At this moment, she was absolutely certain that FBI had been attacked, and it was probably by Kirilenko's more Renee thought about it, the more worried she became. Although Sarah was young and inexperienced, she was a good, compassionate agent. Renee couldn't stand to see good people like Sarah getting hurt, or worse, getting killed. Just as Renee continued to worry about Sarah, Kirilenko, on the other hand, seemed to be waking up from his slumber and let out a slight chuckle.

"What's so damn funny?" Renee her head around to Kirilenko and said after she stopped fiddling with the wires of the electronic lock. However, Kirilenko didn't answer her question. He just stared at her with an arrogant smirk on his face. Although she kept her calmed demeanour, Renee was extremely worried and angry at the same time.

"Those men outside, they are here for you, aren't they?" Renee asked angrily.

"Why don't you... ask your friend outside?" Kirilenko said. Despite he was still in pain from gunshot wounds on his limbs, Kirilenko was still defiant.

"You son of a bitch!" Renee snapped. Despite Kirilenko didn't answer her question, she was now sure that those men outside were definitely an extraction team for Kirilenko. Renee really hated to see good people getting hurt, so she quickly resumed fixing the wiring of the electronic lock, hoping Sarah was holding alright outside. Renee thought about the possibility that Kirilenko might use this opportunity to escape, but she quickly dismissed it since the door that led to the hallway was barricaded with a table in the interrogation room so no one could get in or out easily. And Kirilenko was too wounded to do anything on his own. Therefore, Renee decided to focus her attention on saving Sarah first. She also prayed that Jack would make it out of this mess unharmed and alive. Renee knew Jack had survived and triumphed against many impossible situations in his life. She needed to believe this time was no exception. However, that didn't make her less worried.

After she managed to crawl into the observation room, Sarah collapsed on her side and panted in pain. Despite being shot, Sarah managed to cover her wound with her right hand and applied pressure to stop the bleeding. She yelped as her hand squeezed the wound on her left abdomen. The intense, burning pain almost made her pass out. While she continued to apply pressure in hope to block the bleeding and the pain, Sarah could feel that her body was getting weaker as the pain in her left abdomen intensified. She tried to move around again, but the pain tripled as she moved her body in smallest ways. Right now she was extremely terrified. _They killed Miller...And they seem to be killing everyone inside the office...Who the hell are those guys? And what the hell is going on? _She thought as the pain from the wound continued to tango with her paralyzing fear. Suddenly, she realized something: those gunmen were coming. Through her tear filled eyes, Sarah saw her Glock 26, lying not far from her. She thought she must have dropped it after being shot. Therefore, Sarah, using all the strength she could muster at the moment, extended her left hand in a desperate attempt to try to reach her gun. Right now, she was seriously wounded and a group of hostile armed men were closing in on her position, she needed all the protection she could get. However, as Sarah extended her left arm, excruciating pain was too much for her to handle. As a result, Sarah simply passed out before her left hand could reach her gun. She was now unconscious and lying helplessly on the floor.

**7:41:28**

Through the layout map of the building on the LCD TV screen, Kessler was currently tracking Jack's movement. Right now, it seemed the hostile element had gone into another office, and a team of commandos were converging on the position of hostile element. Therefore Kessler gave the order to those commandos.

"_Butcher Two, the hostile element is currently in office 724, terminate the hostile element with extreme prejudice."_ Kessler's voice could be heard in all four commandos' comm. devices.

"Solid copy, Oxide, Butcher Two out." One commando replied as the rest of his teammate moved closer to office 724.

After arriving in front of the office where the hostile element was currently hiding, the commandos noticed the blinds on the office's glass walls were closed so that the people outside the office could not see what was inside. After seeing the closed blinds, all four commandos were certain that it must be where the hostile element was hiding. Without any hesitation, the commandos unloaded their FN P90 submachine gun at the office, literally rained down wave and wave of bullets upon it. Their bullets quickly shattered the glass walls the instance they punctured through the glass. The hail of submachine gun fire also destroyed the blinds mounted on the glass walls, as well as everything inside the office. After the commandos ceased firing, there was not a single living thing that could have survived such fierce storm made out of bullets. While the other two reloaded their P90 submachine guns, one commando quickly pulled out an Ithaca 37 "Stakeout" shotgun from his back and another commando drew his full sized USP from his leg holster.

"I like to keep this handy for close encounters" The commando with the short barrel shotgun joked as he cocked his shotgun, and then he and his USP pistol wielding teammate stormed into the office with their weapon raised.

After the two commandos entered the office, they didn't find any dead body lying around as they expected. Instead, they only find a desk and a chair inside the bullet-ridden office. Both desk and chair were currently full of bullet holes and whatever was on the desk was obliterated into tiny little pierces. Seeing there was no body present, one of the commandos thought the hostile element had might have jumped out of the window. Therefore, he moved up to the window to take a look. The glass windows of the office were also shattered by the commandos' gunfire, and there were a lot of glass debris nearby. As his teammate beside the window leaned forward with his upper body out of the window, the other commando lowered his shotgun and prepared to report in. However, the commando failed to notice that behind him, the cover of the air duct just above the floor was opening, and Jack Bauer was slowly and quietly emerging from it. Just before the commando began to speak a word into his comm. device, all of the sudden, he saw something on the floor. A bullet-damaged radio transponder, like the one he was carrying to be precise. Before he could realize what was gonna happen, Jack appeared behind him and grabbed him with his left hand. In one smooth motion, Jack then shoved barrel of his USP Compact into the commando's right arm pit area, where it was not protected by body armor, and pulled the trigger twice. Jack's bullets instantly travelled through the commando's lungs. The commando, while dying, panicked and discharged his shotgun randomly. As a result, the commando accidently shot his teammate who was currently peeking out of the window. The force from the shotgun blast actually pushed the poor fellow out of the window. After seeing the gunmen went out of the window, Jack threw the dead commando's body onto the floor and quickly grabbed his shotgun.

The two commandos outside saw what had happened. Already having their weapons reloaded, they aimed down their Holographic sights at Jack and opened fire. However, Jack was aware of those commandos' actions. Quickly he dived behind the desk as two commandos started unloading their submachine guns. While one commando continued firing, the other one took out a flashbang grenade and prepared to throw it at Jack's position. However, at the same time, Jack peeked out of the desk from its side and shot one of the commandos with his newly obtained shotgun, causing him to drop down onto the floor before he could pull the pin of his flashbang grenade. After the other commando saw his teammate got gunned down, he simply began to fire his FN P90 submachine gun in rage at the desk until he ran out of the ammo. However, before he could draw his side arm and continued to engage his target, Jack emerged from the behind of the desk and shot him. Although his body armor provided some protections for his upper torso, couple of shotgun pellets actually hit the commando's neck, causing large volume of blood started gushing out from it. The last commando then fell onto the floor while choking on his own blood.

At the same time, Chloe was walking toward the FBI field office building after parking her car nearby. Right now, she was full of questions. _Renee is alive...but how? And what is she doing working with the FBI? Does FBI already have the knowledge about Renee being alive? If so, why didn't they share the information with CTU?_ Aside from those questions, she was also glad that Renee was alive. Chloe also thought Jack would be very happy to see Renee as well, considering he still missed her since the day she "died". However, Chloe thought that Jack was still in oceans of troubles for what he did 18 months ago. And knowing Renee, she was probably blaming herself for that, like she did at the time when the Jack let himself be taken by the Red Square. Chloe thought that there must be some ways that could get those two out of their troubles. As she was near the front entrance, all of the sudden, a human body seemingly fell from the sky and landed right in front of her. Upon seeing the dead body landed a couple feet in front of her, Chloe literally freaked out. _What the hell?_ She wondered. She looked up at the FBI office building and saw an office without its glass windows, and there seemed to be flashes of gunfire inside the office. She then shifted her attention to the dead body in front of her. The dead body didn't look like FBI SWAT or CTU TAC team. However, it did have full tactical gears, body armor and gas mask on it. Chloe then realized what was happening: The FBI was under attack! And to make matters worse, Jack and Renee were inside the building as well. Worried about both Jack and Renee's safety, Chloe quickly took out her smart phone and dialled for any help she could think of. However, she seemed to be not getting any reception. _Whoever these guys are...they must have jammed the cell phone signals in the area._ Chloe thought. Using her smart phone, she then took a picture of the dead commando lying in a puddle of blood. She thought she probably needed to evidence to convince the authorities about what was happening at the moment. After the picture was taken, Chloe ran toward her car. She needed to get out of the jamming radius so that she could contact the CTU, LAPD, and anyone that could help.

After dispatching the commandos, Jack then threw the almost empty shotgun on the floor and pulled out his USP Compact pistol again. He quickly glanced at the commandos' dead bodies as he walked out of the bullet-ridden office. After taking a closer look at the art equipments and weapons they were carrying, Jack thought whoever these guys were, they really meant business, which meant Renee was really in deep trouble this time trouble if those guys managed to find her. That actually scared Jack the most. Without missing a beat, Jack quickly moved through the hallway and traveled through the stairwell as fast as he could. He was determined to find Renee. He couldn't lose her again, not this time.

**7:46:12**

"Sarah, can you hear me? Are you okay?" Renee had prompted the same question for the past few minutes while she was working on fixing the electronic lock. However, all she got in return was silence from the other end. _Damn it._ She thought, and then she began to fear the worst: Sarah might be dead. However, she refused to acknowledge such possibility. _Maybe she was just wounded and unconscious..._Renee prayed. She needed to get into that observation room, but the stupid electronic lock refused to work. At the moment, Renee really wished that she hadn't broken that stupid thing in the first place. Just as Renee was thinking about breaking the one way mirror by shooting it, all of the sudden, through the intercom, she heard a group of people coming into the observation room.

"Oxide, this is Carnival Five, Sector 3 is clear." One of the commandos reported via his radio. Sarah was lying motionlessly on the floor. Therefore, the two commandos that entered the observation room assumed she bleed out and died. After making sure the observation room was clear, the commandos turned around and saw both Renee and Kirilenko through the one way mirror.

" Oxide, we have visual on the wolf, I repeat, we have visual the wolf. He's in the interrogation 2 with an unknown hostile." The commando reported.

Despite Renee couldn't see anything beyond the one way mirror, she knew her situation had became a lot more dangerous. After hearing the commando's radio conversation, Renee realized that those men probably had her position surrounded. She knew she couldn't let Kirilenko get extracted. If Kirilenko managed to escape from FBI custody, he was definitely going to disappear into the underground. Worse, he would probably make good on his threat earlier and came after Jack and her. Renee couldn't let that happen. That man had caused too many chaos and tragedies today. Therefore, she was determined to stall those guys as long as she can, hoping that the help was on the way. Renee quickly observed her surroundings. Right now, the door that led to the hallway was barricaded by a table wedged between the door and the wall besides the door. In addition to the table, the door's electronic lock was jammed because Renee shot it earlier. Therefore, the hostiles outside could not easily force their way in. However, the door that led to the observation room was not barricaded by any obstacles. Upon noticing this, Renee quickly grabbed a chair which was lying on the ground and stuck the chair under the door knob, effectively wedged the chair between the door and the floor. She knew all these make-shift barricades were just temporary measures. If those men were determined to get in, they would eventually find a way. After making sure both doors were barricaded, Renee moved towards the corner of the interrogation room which was away from both doors. Kirilenko was actually sitting against the wall near that corner. She sat down beside Kirilenko, pulled out her Glock 17, and then pointed the gun at Kirilenko's temple. Renee's actions sent a clear message to whoever was outside: _if you come in here, Kirilenko dies_. She prayed for Jack's safety. She also prayed that help, if there was any, could get to her and Sarah in time.

At the same time, the two commandos observed Renee taking position at the corner of the interrogation room from the one way mirror. One of the commando noticed the intercom was still on, and he thought the people inside the interrogation room probably overheard their radio conversation. Therefore, in order to prevent the people inside from getting additional intel about them and their objectives, the commando turned off the intercom. After that, both commandos aimed their suppressed FN P90 submachine guns at the one way mirror and opened fire, hoping that the bullets would shatter the glass.

Inside the interrogation room, Renee then noticed many bullet impact marks started appeared consecutively on the one way mirror in quick succession. Upon each bullet slamming into the one way mirror, the cracked lines instantly appeared around the area of impact. Fortunately for Renee, the one way mirror was bullet resistant, so no bullet travelled into the interrogation room. Despite the bullets didn't penetrated one way mirror, Renee become even more worried then she already was. She deducted that those people outside were probably heavily armed. _This is not good_... She thought, as she continued to hold her position vigilantly.

After shooting at the one way mirror, the commandos realized that it was bullet resistant. As a result, they decided to breach the door. The two commandos who were in the observation room were now planting breaching charges on the door that led into the interrogation room. There were also two more commandos outside of the interrogation room. After receiving the order from their teammates in the observation room, they too began to plant breaching charges on the interrogation room door.

"The hostile has barricaded herself inside pretty well, we might need to use C4 for the breaching." One of the commandos in the observation room said while planting the breaching charges. Through the bullet-ridden one way mirror, he saw that both doors in the interrogation room were blocked by either a table or a chair. Therefore, they needed something like C4 that would pack a punch in order to clear the obstacles.

"Negative. Carnival Three is using most of the C4 on the server room. They needed to make sure all of the records are sanitized..." The other commando said as he finished mounting the planting charges on the door. Suddenly he heard a very weak moan. Instinctively, he quickly drew his sidearm, a suppressed CZ 75 SP-01'Phantom' pistol and pointed it at the source of the whimpering sound. Other commando also did the same. They then found a still alive Sarah, struggling to regain her conscious.

"We got a live one here." One of the commandos said after he kicked Sarah's body once to see if she was really alive while keeping his sidearm trained at her at the same time. He was then prepared to pull the trigger of his sidearm to finish her off. However, the other commando stopped him.

"Stop! I got an idea..." The other commando said. He then took a look at the helpless young woman lying on the ground ominously.

After being kicked by one of the commandos, Sarah was now lying on her back and her hand was now not covering her wound. As she regained her conscious, she slowly opened her eyes. Through her tear filled eyes, she saw two black figures standing beside her. _Who...are...they? _Sarah couldn't make out who these two figures were. However, after her vision became less blurry, she saw something terrifying. One of the figures seemed to be pointing a weapon at her. _Damn it...those guys... came back to... finish the job..._ Sarah was absolute petrified at the moment. To make the matter worse, the excruciating pain from her gunshot wound also came back as well. Sarah desperately wanted her body to move, but she couldn't. All she could do at the moment was whimper. Suddenly, she noticed one of the commandos holstered his pistol and began to walk away from her, but the other commando still kept his gun trained at her. She thought whatever these guys were gonna do, it was not gonna be good for her...

At the moment, Renee still remained beside Kirilenko at the corner of the interrogation room. With Kirilenko at gunpoint, she couldn't help but to notice the cruel irony that she was now a hostage taker. In her old job as an FBI agent, she sometimes had to rescue people from hostage situations. However, Renee didn't have the time to dwell on that. She needed to stay sharp and remain vigilant about the whole situation. Renee noticed whoever was outside seemed to turn the intercom off. As a result, she had zero idea about what was going on beyond the interrogation room. Despite having no knowledge of the outside, Renee was determined to hold out as long as she could. _Helping is coming..._She repeatedly told herself in order to stay positive. All of the sudden, she heard an unknown voice from the intercom.

"_Attention, agent inside. If you don't bring yourself and the man beside you outside within 30 seconds, your colleague will be..._" One of the commandos said to Renee through the intercom.

After her five senses slowly coming back, Sarah heard what the commando said to Renee via the intercom. She now knew she was being used as a leverage to get Renee to come out of the interrogation room. Sarah knew if Renee came out of the room with Kirilenko, those bastards were going to kill both Renee and her. She couldn't let that happen. Renee will be safe as long as she remained inside the already barricade interrogation room. Therefore, trying to ignore the burning pain on her left abdomen, with all of her remaining strength, Sarah shouted.

"Renee! Don't listen to him! He...AAAAH!"

However, before Sarah could finish her sentence, the commando who was currently pointing his weapon at her stepped on Sarah's gunshot wound. As the commando's combat boot forcefully applied pressure onto her wound, the pain in her left abdomen amplifies a thousand fold. Sarah screamed in pain. She nearly passed out again from that.

After hearing Sarah's pained scream, Renee now became extremely worried. Sarah was still alive, but from the sound of her voice, she seemed to be in very bad shape. To make the matters worse, those men outside seemed to be willing to torture her in order to get her to come out with Kirilenko. _Bastards..._ Renee cursed silently.

"If you don't comply, your colleague will be terminated without prejudice." The commando said without showing any emotion in his voice. Didn't want any further interruption from his leverage, he ordered his teammate to take Sarah outside of the observation room and into the hallway. The other commando complied and grabbed Sarah's both arms. Like dragging a corpse, he proceeded to drag a semi-unconscious Sarah out of the observation. Sarah wanted to fight the commando, but her attempts at struggling had been futile due to the fact that she had became a lot weaker due to her gunshot wound and blood loss. She was barely hanging there. As a result, all she could manage was wiggling her body only for a little bit as she was helplessly dragged out of the observation room. Sarah now began to fear for the worst…

At the same time, Renee quickly made up her mind. She couldn't let the Sarah die out there because of her. Renee really hated to see good people like Sarah suffer like that. The young agent had been through too much today. If she died out there, that was on her. Renee simply couldn't live with that. Therefore, she stood up and rushed toward the door that led to the observation room. She then quickly fiddled with the wires of the electronic lock beside the door. Before those commandos surrounded her position, Renee almost got the electronic lock fixed. Now she just needed to adjust the wiring a little bit in order for the lock to open...

After getting dragging into the hallway, Sarah, using the little strength she had, managed to slowly sit herself up against the wall opposite to the doorway of the observation room. The commando who dragged her out seemed to let her to so, but he kept his weapon trained at her throughout. Even though she couldn't see the commando's face through the gas mask he was wearing, Sarah thought angrily that sick bastard was probably enjoying seeing her suffer like this. As she began covering her gunshot wound again with her right hand again, through her already tear filled eyes, she saw the two commandos, joined by another two commandos, were already waiting for Renee to bring Kirilenko out. Two commandos already had their weapons trained at the observation room door while one commando was standing beside her, with his full sized CZ 75 SP-01 pistol pointed at her head, ready to execute her if the need arises. Sarah desperately wanted to believe everything will be alright for her and Renee, but she couldn't. There was literally no way out of this. As her right hand pressed her wound again, Sarah prayed that Renee wouldn't come out on account of her. Sudden, she saw Kirilenko, who was walking slowly with a limp due to the gunshot wound Renee inflicted on his right knee and right foot, walked out of the observation room. Renee was right behind Kirilenko with her weapon pointed at his back, using him as a human shield. _Oh no..._

As they walked out of the observation room, Renee tried to make herself as small as possible behind a limping Kirilenko. She had one hand grabbing Kirilenko's shoulder while pressing her gun against the back of Kirilenko's head at the same time, ready to put a bullet into his head if the commandos tried anything funny. After Renee moved out of the observation room with Kirilenko in front of her, she saw something horrible. She saw a seriously wounded Sarah being held at gunpoint, her heart ached for Sarah as her stomach began to twist. _What the hell did these bastards do to that poor girl?_ Renee thought angrily. From the huge blood stain on her blouse, Sarah was definitely shot in her left abdomen. To make the matters worse, she seemed to be bleeding out. Her face was pale white and she was hanging there by a thread. After seeing Sarah's condition, Renee was even more determined to save Sarah.

"I'll kill him if you don't get her some medical attention first!" Renee ordered the commandos in absolute anger as she continued pressing her gun at the back of Kirilenko's head. At the same time, the three commandos, two on her right and one on her left, had already took aimed at both her and Kirilenko. The green dots from the laser aiming modules on those commandos FN P90 submachine gun danced wildly around Renee's forehead and Kirilenko's upper body. However, those commandos held their fire. They seemed to be waiting for further instructions from their other teammate.

All of the sudden, in one smooth motion, the commando who was currently holding the Sarah at gunpoint instantly swung his CZ-75 SP-01 pistol and pointed it direct at Renee and Kirilenko's direction. Without any hesitation, he pulled the trigger. Instantly, the bullet travelled into Kirilenko's skull through his forehead, delivering a painless death for Nicholai Kirilenko.

Sarah watched helplessly as she sat there against the wall. She desperately wanted to get up and help Renee, but her body had refused to comply with any of her demands. As she continued to struggle with the pain and the nauseating feeling, all she could do right now was to watch the terrifying event unfold in absolute horror.

Renee, at the moment, was in absolute shock and disbelief. _Why the hell did those guys kill Kirilenko?_ Then she realized something. _Those men are not here to extract Kirilenko...They are here to kill him...Oh my God...How could I be so stupid..._ Renee was horrified. She thought that because she misjudged the situation, now she was gonna get both Sarah and her killed. Right now, as fear started to sink in and began to paralyze her, all Renee could do now was pray for a miracle...

After killing Kirilenko, the commando swung his pistol to Sarah's direction and pointed it at her again. "Light her up!" He ordered. However, in that millisecond which the commando and the rest of his teammates were about to pull their triggers of their weapons, a bullet, seemingly came out of nowhere, slammed into the head of the commando who was pointing his gun at Sarah, killing the commando before his body even hit the ground. One of the commandos saw what happened to his teammate, but before he could even react, another bullet pierced through the tinted visor of his gas mask, killing him as well.

In that millisecond, Renee saw the two commandos in front of her fell down as if someone shot them. She quickly noticed that the other two remaining commandos were distracted by the sudden turn of the event. This was the window she needed. While still holding the Glock 17 on her hand, without a second thought, Renee fired two shots in quick succession. Due to the fact it was close range, Renee had no problem making her shots count and her shots hit both commandos in their heads. After dispatching the commandos, Renee quickly turned to her left to see who fired the first two shots. To her surprise, it was Jack Bauer.

"Renee!" Jack shouted worriedly. He actually stumbled upon both Renee and Sarah by pure luck. From the moment when Sarah got dragged out of the observation room to the moment when Renee tried to bargain for Sarah's safety with Kirilenko as her hostage, Jack had already seen what went down. He was glad that he got there just in the nick of time before things get from bad to worse. From the looks of it, Renee was a bit shaken up, but she was alright. Aside from a bit of Kirilenko's blood splatter on her face, Renee was not physically harmed in any way.

"Jack!" Renee replied as she tucked her gun into her jeans. Renee was glad to see Jack, too. Most importantly, she was glad that Jack was alright. Deep down, she knew that Jack would survive this mess, just like he had done so in the past, but that didn't stop her from worrying his safety.

After a brief eye contact, both Jack and Renee instantly knew what they need to do. Despite both of them wanted to hug each other, they both knew now was not the time. The FBI field office was still swarmed with those mercenaries and they got an agent who was serious wounded and needed immediate medical attention. Most importantly, they needed to find a way out or to contact the outside for help. Quickly, they tended to a very pale Sarah.

Sarah, at the moment, was relieved to see both Renee and Jack. She was also relieved that those commandos in front of her were dead as well. She wanted to express her gratitude but all she could manage was whimpers. She was getting weaker and weaker by the minute. As the giant blood stain on her blouse continued to grow, Sarah knew that she was losing blood, and she couldn't stop the bleeding. Her only hope lied with Jack and Renee.

"It's alright... you're safe now... you gonna make it..." Renee said to Sarah as she noticed Sarah was still in tremendous pain. Renee knew the pain too wall. She experienced the pain when that white hot bullet found its mark and tore through her body. She experienced the pain when blood started gushing out of her wound and there seemed to be no way to stop it. She hated to see Sarah experiencing same pain. Therefore, Renee was determined to save Sarah, before it was too late.

"Damn it, it's not through and through..." Jack said as he checked Sarah's gunshot wound. However, it seemed the bullet as embedded inside her. To make the matter worse, the young agent seemed to have lost a lot of blood.

"Renee, we need to get her out of here." Jack then urged. He only knew Sarah as the agent who brought him to meet Renee an hour earlier. From her young looks, Jack figured she probably was just a rookie. Jack suddenly had a flashback about 18 months ago where at the dock in New York. When those IRK radicals surrounded their position, he couldn't save Agent Owen after he got shot. Through out of the years, he had seen way too many good people died tragically. _Not this time._ He thought.

After hearing Jack said, Renee nodded in acknowledgement and then she turned to Sarah. "Sarah, can you walk?"

"I...I...can...try…" Sarah managed to reply in a barely audible voice. Although she was in a very bad shape, Sarah was determined to stay alive.

After hearing that, Renee helped Sarah up. She then started carrying Sarah as Sarah tried her best to ignore the pain and walk. At the same time, Jack drew his weapon again and gave Renee a 'let's go' look. Renee knew that Jack will try to clear a path and cover both her and Sarah. As all three of them then began to move out, both Jack and Renee began to wonder about why these commandos were assaulting the FBI field office. Those guys probably are not here only to take out Kirilenko. They must have other objectives as well...

**7:56:12**

After reaching the other stairwell, Hoffman, Lugansky, and his FSO protection detail quickly went down the stairs. While descending from the stairs, Hoffman and Lugansky's FSO protection details carefully checked their corners as they move. After reaching the ground floor, Hoffman signalled the FSO agent to hang back as he approached the fire exit door. Through the small window on the fire exit door, Hoffman saw four men, wearing the bullet proof vests and blue FBI wind breakers, seemed to be guard the area. First, Hoffman thought they were his fellow FBI agents and cavalry had finally arrived. However, just before he was going to open the fire exit door, he quickly realized something was wrong: If the FBI was here, shouldn't the FBI SWAT come in to clear the area first? Besides, those men were carrying MP7 submachine guns outfitted with suppressors. Those were not FBI standard issued weapons. On top of those, he hadn't seen these guys in the office before. Whoever these jokers were, they were definitely part of the group who attacked the building. _Damn it..._He cursed under his breath. However, just as he was thinking about the next step for getting the Russian foreign minister out of the building safely, Lugansky's FSO agent moved towards him. Without any warning, the FSO agent shot Hoffman in the back two times.

After being shot, Hoffman turned around and saw Lugansky's FSO detail holding a still smoking pistol. He was in absolute disbelief and shock. However, before Hoffman could react, the FSO agent shot him again in his chest. As large volume of blood began gushing out of his wounds and stained his white shirt, Hoffman collapsed on the floor. _What the hell..._ That was the last thing Hoffman thought before his head hit the floor. Then his world went completely black.

"_Petrovich! What the hell are you doing?"_ Lugansky shouted in Russian. He couldn't believe what just happened. His FSO protection detail just shot the FBI agent who was helping them. Still shocked by the action of the FSO agent, Lugansky stood in horror as he watched his protection detail kicked the Hoffman's gun away from Hoffman's dead body.

After making sure the FBI agent was dead, Lugansky's protection detail, Petrovich, quickly turned around and pointed his weapon at Lugansky. _"I don't want to shoot you, sir, but I need you to come with me..." _Petrovich threatened Lugansky in Russian. Despite the threat he was just issued, Petrovich's voice was a bit shaky, like he didn't want to do what he was doing...

After hearing multiple gunshots coming from the fire exit, the four mercenaries who were disguised as FBI agents quickly covered the fire exit door by pointed their suppressed MP7 submachine guns at it. All of the sudden, the door opened, Lugansky came out with both of his hands in the air. Behind him was Petrovich, who kept his weapon trained at Lugansky. After the mercenaries saw both Lugansky and Petrovich walking towards them, one of the mercenaries quickly grabbed Lugansky and forced him down on his knees. As the mercenary secured both of Lugansky's hands by zip-tie handcuffs, Petrovich spoke.

"I've already done what your boss asked this morning and I have done what your boss asked two hours ago...Now where are my wife and daughter?" In thick Russian accent, Petrovich demanded angrily. During the car ride to the FBI field office with Lugansky, Kessler and his mercenaries had already contacted Petrovich via text messages. He was supposed to kill his partner, the other FSO agent accompanying Lugansky, and then delivered Lugansky to Kessler's men while they assaulted the building. However, Petrovich didn't expect the Secretary of State's Secret Service protection details, the FBI agent named Hoffman, and Jack Bauer to get involved, since he didn't expect Lugansky to meet with the Secretary of State when Kessler's men launched their assault. As a result, Petrovich had to wait for the right moment to make his move, and that moment came when there was only him and Hoffman who were protecting Lugansky.

However, after Petrovich finished his sentence, a mercenary quickly sneaked up right behind him, grabbed him, and then slit Petrovich's throat with a combat knife. As Petrovich choked on his own blood, he wondered why he trusted these men in the first place and prayed that his family was alright...

Through first floor's security camera feeds, Kessler watched his men dispatched Petrovich as they secured the Russian Foreign Minister at the same time. Using the Petrovich's wife and daughter as leverage, Kessler and his mercenaries had effectively turned Petrovich into their double agent. Originally, Kessler was going to use Petrovich in an operation this morning, but due to unforeseen complications, the operation was aborted. Now, one of the objectives for their current operation was to capture and extract the Russian Foreign Minister. Because he only received the assignment in a very short notice, Kessler didn't have the time to prepare a way to obtain the Russian foreign minister's real-time location inside the FBI field office. Therefore, he decided to have his men to searching for Lugansky the old fashion way. Concurrently, he also decided to have Petrovich tried to extract Lugansky. If one failed, Kessler could still count on the other one to complete the objective. It was like betting on all horses in a race consisted only two horses. He would get paid regardless whichever horses won.

"Oxide, this is Avatar Four, we have secured the package." One of the mercenary reported through his comm. device as his teammates began to put a black hood over Lugansky's head.

"_Roger, Avatar Four, rendezvous with Avatar Two and proceed to extraction point X-ray."_ Kessler ordered after hearing him men got the Russian Foreign Minister.

"Copy that, Oxide, we're Oscar Mike." The mercenary replied, and then his teammates grabbed a restrained Lugansky and began taking him with them...

**07:59:57... 07:59:58... 07:59:59... 08:00:00**

* * *

**:O Hope you guys enjoy the story, please let me know what you think :)**

**Some Random Reflections (and rambling):**

**1. The assault on the FBI field office:** This is probably the bloodiest and grittiest chapter I have ever written due to the fact that many characters bite the dust in this chapter. I actually encountered many of my writer's block when I tried to write many of the action scenes in this chapter. Originally, there was a scene where there was a gun battle between the FBI and mercenaries, but after writing about 1~2 pages of it I decided to scrap the scene since I kinda have trouble describing the overall office environments in great details. The problem later reappeared as I tried to write scene where Jack and Hoffman battled against the commandos. As a result I kinda keep some of environment stuff vague. I admitted that I borrowed a lot of the elements from Season 7's White House siege (Jack tried to draw the commandos away, the bad guys used Sarah as leverage to force Renee to come out etc). I also admitted I borrowed a lot of stuff from the first _Die Hard_. I mean, the chapter had terrorists, who led by a European man, taken over a building. It's hard not to think about the similarities (I actually considered writing a scene where Jack wrote "Now I have a machine gun, Ho, Ho, Ho" on one of commandos' dead body LOL). The scene where a dead commando's body landed near Chloe as she was walking toward the FBI field office is also inspired by the first _Die Hard _(the scene where McClane dropped a terrorist's dead body onto that cop's car, hence alerting the police). Well, since as mentioned in previous chapter Chloe was coming to the FBI, I have to get Chloe involved at some point. But overall, the "Terrorist taking over a building" cliché had been done to the death by many 90's action flicks; I hope I add enough small variations to keep things at least interesting. Also, I managed to work a James Cameron's _Aliens_ reference into the story (LOL).

**2. The new bad guy:** When creating the new bad guy, I actually had a very hard time trying to lock down his background. Originally, Erik Kessler was former British SAS, but since Season 7's Emerson was former British SAS so I decided to change his background again. After went through researches on various special force branches and elite counter terrorist units I decided to settle on the French Foreign Legion, since they are still quite active in various conflicts. I also decided to keep his nationality vague since he's a mercenary after all. Also, there is no "5th Foreign Parachute Regiment" in the French Foreign Legion. It kinda based on the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2REP) , which is considered to be the special force regiment in the French Foreign Legion (Although they are not part of a French Army Special Forces Brigade, part of 2REP are Commando Parachute Group, another French special force unit).

**3. Jack and Renee's characters: **One of my writer's blocks is about the decision Jack had to make. Should he protect the VIP first or should he just abandon the VIPs and try to find Renee? I kinda had a hard time figuring out which option Jack would choose. Considering his character in Season 8 and the fact that Ross and Lugansky wanted him to be in Russian custody, it wouldn't be so much of a stretch having Jack flat out abandon both of the VIPs and go straight for Renee. But is Jack willing to go that far? (Leaving those VIPs to their fate so he can go save Renee). After struggling with it for quite a while I decided to have Jack save the VIPs first and then go find Renee, simply because he already got caught in the VIP situation to begin with. Also, considering Jack's character in earlier seasons, it also wouldn't be a stretch for Jack to save the VIPs first because of Jack's sense of duty. However, I kinda want to stress that Jack pretty much considered both saving Renee and saving the VIPs are equally important (Okay, maybe saving Renee is more important in Jack's mind lol), and he tried to juggle with both tasks at the same time. I hope that's not out of character for Jack. Plus, what would Renee think if Jack actually abandoned those VIPs so he can find her? Speaking of Renee, I hope I didn't go over the top or out of character with the scene between her and Kirilenko. In my original draft, Renee stopped interrogating Kirilenko as soon as she noticed the disturbance and just waited (while kept her gun trained at Kirilenko). I thought it was kinda boring so I added the scene where Kirilenko tried to psych Renee out and as a result, Renee went crazy for the moment and literally tried to kill Kirilenko. Again, I really hope I didn't go over the top with her character.

**4. Realism vs. creative liberty:** Okay, I think I took quite a few creative liberties in this chapter. First, about the commando's FN P90. The FN P90 actually uses the 5.7x28mm round, which is actually a small calibre and high velocity ammunition. The SS190 variation of the cartridge actually has quite the penetration power against the Kevlar when fired from an FN P90 (although the level of penetration power is still debatable as of today). Therefore, I think if the commandos' FN P90 was fired against the one way mirror, I think the bullets would go through the one way mirror. However, in order to create some suspense, I wrote it so that the bullets were not able to penetrate the bullet resistant one way mirror. I don't know if police or the FBI really uses bullet resistant materials for the one way mirror inside their interrogation room. If they don't, then let's scratch that one as creative liberty. Also, about Sarah's gunshot wound. I must stress that creative liberty is taken in this case as well. When a person is shot in the abdomen, without immediate medical attention, that person would die in a very short period of time. Therefore, Sarah probably wouldn't survive that long after being shot (again, Tony in Season 7 shot himself in the abdomen in episode 18 and yet after getting treated by only the paramedics, he was back as new, not to mention he was able to beat up that Starkwood merc about an hour later).

**5. The twist in the end:** Well I hope the twist in the end of the chapter actually wasn't too forced. Sometimes having both plans going at the same time will ensure the greater chance of success, since if one plan failed, you can still count on the other one.


	14. 8:00PM 9:00PM

**Author's Note:**

First of all, I really need to apologize for another super late update. I actually finished the first draft during the Christmas & New Year holidays (between some much needed holiday rests of course). However, I wasn't really satisfied with the draft so ended up rewriting a lot of stuff in this chapter. During the rewrite, I ended up hitting a lot of walls (research related)...Overall, I hope this chapter won't disappoint.

I managed to incorporate "Chloe's Arrest" into the story. Basically in that season 8 epilogue, Chloe got arrested by the FBI for helping Jack escape. I kinda ran into some issues while incorporating it to the story. It mostly has to do with the fact that there is no easy hand-waving like a Presidential pardon. However, there was another good workaround. Remember after Season 3 David Palmer and Jack Bauer vouched for Tony so that he got a reduced prison sentence instead of a death sentence? Same principle can be applied here. Therefore, I changed the Chloe's story so that Ethan Kanin, whom at Allison Taylor's requested, vouched for Chloe and talked to Tim Woods (Secretary of Homeland Security) on the possibility of a reduced sentence. However, I thought Chloe getting off Scott's free would be a kind of a stretch, but I don't want her getting way too "damaged" from jail time as well. Therefore, a compromised was created. Chloe ended up serving a couple of months in minimum security prison. That way she still retained her "Chloe-ness" (for the lack of actual word), but still faced the some of the fallout from season 8. I hope that was acceptable. Also, I must stress that the **legal situation in Chloe's case is strictly fictitious**. Creative liberties are taken so that the event of "Chloe's Arrest" would fit the story without changing the overall plot.

Again, thank you all for your kind review and supports. I'm really glad that you guys are enjoying the story. You guys rock!

Anyway, enough with my rambling, let's roll the tape...

* * *

**Previously on 24**

As the mercenaries, led by Erik Kessler, continued their assault on the FBI field office, Jack and Hoffman worked together to escort the Secretary of the State Kevin Ross and Russian Foreign Minister, Seymon Lugansky, out of the building. Unfortunately, Secretary of the State was killed in the process. Jack then decided to lure the mercenaries away so that Hoffman, Russian Foreign Minister, and Russian Foreign Minister's protection detail could use the distraction to get to safety. After luring the mercenaries away and eliminated them, Jack searched for Renee, hoping to find her before anything bad happened to her. Meanwhile, Renee, who had locked herself inside the interrogation room with Nicholai Kirilenko and oblivious of the ongoing attack on the FBI field office, continued her interrogation. Also oblivious to the attack, Special Agent Sarah Ferris tried to talk Renee down from torturing Kirilenko. After almost killing Kirilenko, Renee came to her senses and noticed something was wrong outside of the interrogation room. This prompted Sarah to go out to investigate. However, Sarah was shot by the mercenaries the moment she stepped out of the observation room. Fortunately, Sarah was able to drag herself into the observation room before passing out. As the mercenaries closed in on Renee's position, Renee figured those men were probably here to extract Kirilenko so she barricaded herself and Kirilenko inside the interrogation room. However, the mercenaries forced Renee to bring Kirilenko out by using a seriously wounded Sarah as leverage. After Renee brought Kirilenko out, the mercenaries shot and killed Kirilenko. Just as they were about to kill Renee and Sarah, Jack showed up and took out the mercenaries, hence saving both Renee and Sarah. At the same time, Hoffman, Lugansky, and Lugansky's protection detail made it to the ground floor. However, as it turned out, Lugansky's protection detail was an unwilling double agent working for the mercenaries. After killing Hoffman, Lugansky's protection detail handed Lugansky to the mercenaries unwillingly before the mercenaries double-crossed him. The mercenaries then dragged a helpless Lugansky away...

**The following takes place between 8:00PM and 9:00PM**

**8:01:32**

**Counter Terrorist Unit, Los Angeles**

After the reconstitution of Counter Terrorist Unit, rather than using the same building as the original CTU, the Los Angeles branch had been operating out of another high-rise building. The internal décor also had been revamped completely as well. As a result, as oppose to the old looks of the original CTU, the new office now had an ultra-modern feel. In addition to the slick outlook, there were various touch screen technology based equipments occupied the office. Inside the huge director's office overlooking the entire high tech bullpen, the CTU director, Nathan Devlin, was currently going over various documents concerning Jack Bauer and the IRK Foreign Minister's assassination on his touch screen monitor. About an hour ago, he received the word that the FBI had Jack Bauer in their custody. However, while he was waiting for the FBI's reports on this matter, Devlin received a request from the State Department, which essentially telling them to cease their investigation. Despite Devlin was a bit baffled by such request, he complied with the State Department's demand anyway. He knew that if he didn't, either State Department or the White House would make a stink about it and the Division would have to come down on him hard. Devlin didn't want that to happen. Besides, judging by the recent situation with Russia and IRK, Devlin thought there might be some high level diplomatic maneuverings going on, and Jack Bauer might be part of that. Just as he pondered his thought, suddenly, he saw one of his analysts, Oscar Montez, at the door. Devlin quickly signalled the analyst to come in to his Office.

"Sir, we might have a major incident going down at the FBI field office now." The analyst said.

"How's so?" Surprised by what the analyst said, Devlin asked curiously.

"Well, the LAPD received a tip from a woman named Chloe O'Brian, saying that the FBI field office is being attacked by an unknown force. They already sent a patrol car to investigate the situation..." The analyst said.

"Wait... did you say 'Chloe O'Brian'?" Devlin asked after he heard the name.

"Yes, the same Chloe O'Brian we were trying to locate his morning." The analyst answered. Ever since Jack Bauer was found at the scene of IRK Foreign Minister's assassination, CTU had been trying to locate Chloe throughout the morning because they believed she might have the knowledge concerning Jack's whereabouts. "And she sent this to the LAPD..." The analyst then showed the picture of a dead commando lying in front of the FBI field office, which was displayed on a tablet PC, to Devlin.

After Devlin saw the picture of a dead commando lying on top of a puddle of blood, he then began to think something was not right. He thought if this was some training exercise then how come there's a dead body lying on a pool of blood? Besides, CTU didn't get any memos about any training exercises either. Devlin then started to worry. _Wait...didn't the Secretary of the State and the Russian Foreign Minister went to FBI field office earlier?_ The more he thought about it then more worried he became. If anything happened to those two, they could possibly have a serious international incident on their hands. In addition, Jack Bauer was in FBI's custody earlier as well. Devlin also considered the possibility that Jack Bauer will probably use this opportunity to escape Federal custody, and it's possible that Chloe O'Brian might be helping him. Devlin had read Jack and Chloe's records and knew that Chloe O'Brian had helped Jack in countless occasions. Therefore, it was not a stretch to consider that. With a possibility of a serious international incident and wanted Federal fugitive escaping, Devlin thought he needed to take it very seriously. He decided to send the TAC teams to the FBI field office.

"Is Seaver's team still in Beverley Hills?" Devlin asked. After the CTU TAC team finished their search for Jack Bauer in West Hollywood, Devlin redirected them to a residential area in Beverley Hills because LAPD received a tip that claimed there had been a house invasion and the suspect's description matched Jack Bauer. However, after searching through the area, they didn't find Jack.

"Actually, they are coming back to CTU since Jack Bauer had been apprehended by the FBI..." The analyst answered.

"Reroute them and Fletcher's team to the FBI field office. Also, I want you to coordinate with LAPD on this one. If anyone gives you any crap you just tell them we got a possible national security breach involving a foreign dignitary, a high ranking government official, and a Federal fugitive" Devlin ordered.

"Yes, sir, I'll get right on it."

After the analyst left the office, Devlin then picked up the headset of his phone and called another analyst to patch him to the White House. He actually dreaded this call. He knew the White House will not be taking the news well, considering the possibility of both Secretary of the State and the Russian Foreign Minister in danger, not to mention the possibility of Jack Bauer escaping again. Therefore, with his career on the line, Devlin was determined to make sure they got the best possible outcome out of this mess.

**8:04:36**

After successfully kidnapping the Russian Foreign Minister, the mercenaries with the call sign "Avatar Four" began to proceed toward the FBI motor pool to rendezvous with their teammates there. They were actually the extraction team who went into the FBI field office only to extract Lugansky as the building was locked down. At the moment, Lugansky was defiant. Even with a black hood over his head, he kept shouting in Russian and refused to move his legs. The mercenaries simply viewed Lugansky's actions as nothing other than minor nuisances. They ignored his muffled shouting and forcefully dragged him all the way to the FBI motor pool. Once they arrived at the FBI motor pool, the mercenaries quickly handed Lugansky to their teammates, who were disguised as the maintenance workers.

"Did you take care of Petrovich?" One of the mercenaries asked.

"Yeah, he's history."

At the same time, another mercenary quickly took out an autoinjector loaded with anesthetic and jabbed it in the left side of Lugansky's neck. As a result, Lugansky instantly passed out. The mercenaries then put him in the back of an SUV. After that, they began searching Lugansky thoroughly. Aside from making sure there were no tracking devices on the Russian Foreign Minister, the mercenaries seemed to be looking for something in particular. After a brief search, the mercenaries seemed to find the item they were looking for: An electronic device which resembled a satellite phone. The mercenary who found the device quickly pushed a few buttons on the device, put the device inside a metallic suitcase, and then he handed the metallic suitcase to the mercenaries who brought Lugansky.

After receiving the suitcase, the mercenaries who disguised as FBI agents quickly got into an SUV and drove out the FBI motor pool. The other mercenaries also drove out the FBI motor pool in the SUV carrying Lugansky in its back. As the SUV sped away from the FBI field office, one of the mercenaries gave his boss, Kessler, a SitRep.

"Oxide, this is Avatar Two, Avatar Four is en-route to Hotel Bravo with the Prize. We and Avatar Three are taking the Bear to RV point Whiskey. ETA 10 Mikes."

"Roger that Avatar Two." Kessler replied to his headset. He felt a slight relief that out of their multiple objectives, there were only two left on the check list: Destroying the servers and killing Nicholai Kirilenko. Earlier, a team had reported that they had located Kirielnko. However, Kessler hadn't heard from that team since. Therefore, he sent another fire team to that team's last known location to investigate. Just after he finished conversing with Avatar Two, the fire team he sent reported.

"_Oxide, this is Carnival One. The Wolf is now dead...However, so is the rest of Carnival Five... it looks like they had contact with the hostile element who took out the Butcher Two..."_ One of the commandos spoke from the other side of the radio after seeing Kirilenko's dead body among the other dead commandos. _"Oxide, do you want us to go after the hostile element?"_

"Carnival One, Oxide, continue sweeping the area with extreme aggression. The hostile elements cannot go near Sector 6. I repeat, the hostile element cannot be anywhere near Sector 6." Kessler ordered. He was glad to hear that Kirilenko was dead. However, Kessler did not expect his men to suffer that many casualties at the hands of some FBI agents who wanted to play cowboy. He did not expect his men to meet with such fierce resistance at tall. _These guys took out teams of well trained and well equipped professional soldiers...Whoever these agents are...they are good..._ Kessler now began to consider those hostile elements as a serious threat rather than a simple nuisance.

"_Roger that, Oxide, Carnival One out._" The commando replied via his comm. device.

After hearing the commando's acknowledgement, Kessler though as of now, they were almost at the end of the tunnel. The only objective they needed to accomplish was to destroy the FBI field office's servers. Therefore, Kessler requested a SitRep from the team who were currently setting explosive charges in the server room.

"Oxide to Carnival Three, have you got those charges hot yet?"

"_Carnival Three Actual to Oxide, we gonna need another fifteen mikes to get all charges rigged and primed, over!"_ The commandos in the server room responded. The reason for such delay was that those commandos also needed to extract some data from the field office's server and transmitted those data back to home base. The process was actually taking a lot longer than expected. As a result, the commandos didn't started rigging those charges until about a couple of minutes earlier.

"Negative, I want those charges hot in less than ten mikes. Get it done now." Kessler ordered firmly. He already been informed about the hold up earlier and was not pleased with it. Kessler knew the longer his men stayed inside the building the risk of authorities finding out what was going on became greater. He would not want the situation to turn into a siege. If that happened, his men were gonna be at a severe tactical disadvantage. Therefore, he decided to pull the main bulk of his forces out first and leave a one team to defend the team who were still setting explosive charges. Kessler would send a helicopter for those two teams. Without giving it a second thought, Kessler gave the orders through his headset.

**8:11:29**

"C'mon, Sarah, you can do it...just hang in there..." Renee said as she continued to carry Sarah by holding her left arm over her shoulders, she noticed that even when she already slowed her pace considerably, Sarah could barely keep up. That poor girl could barely walk. Renee worried that Sarah was going to pass out any second, or worse, went into shock. Renee's heart ached for Sarah. She thought that Sarah had been through too much today by helping her and Jack, she did not deserve what was happening to her. Therefore, she tried to encourage the young agent to hold on. Renee was still haunted by what had happened in Jack's apartment 18 months ago. She knew what Sarah was going through. As a result, she was determined to save Sarah from this horrible ordeal.

As Sarah slowly moving through the hallway with Renee supporting her, through her tear she saw the gruesome aftermath of the carnage those mercenaries had done. There were bodies lying everywhere in the hallway. Most of the dead bodies were her friends and colleagues who she had worked with day and night in the past few months. Among those dead bodies, Sarah recognized one of them as her friends who she had lunch with yesterday afternoon. Now her friend was lying on the floor with a bullet hole in her forehead. Sarah was absolutely horrified by what she was seeing with her own eyes. _This can't be happening...This can't be happening..._ She desperately wanted to believe that this was just a nightmare, but the intense, burning pain in her left abdomen reminded her the grim reality she found herself in. Although she covered her wound with her right hand and applied pressure, she wasn't able to stop the bleeding. Sarah desperately struggled to stay awake but her eyes were getting heavier and heavier by the second. As the tremendous burning pain from her gunshot wound and the gruesome sight of the slaughter continued to assault her senses, Sarah felt that despite her best effort, she just couldn't hold on any longer. She could feel her legs were giving out. Without warning, she began to collapse.

Renee, on the other hand, quickly noticed that and caught Sarah moment before she collapsed completely on to the floor. "Jack!" Renee shouted to Jack, who was in front of them.

Keeping his USP Compact pistol leveled at the front, Jack was moving cautiously while scanning every corner carefully. So far, he didn't notice any commandos, but he still remained vigilant. After hearing Renee's voice, Jack quickly turned around. He saw that Renee was trying to keep Sarah from collapsing to the floor. Quickly, Jack came to Sarah's side and helped Renee carrying the almost unconscious Sarah. Without saying a word, both Jack and Renee knew that they needed to find the place to hide first. With haste, both of them carried Sarah into a nearby office. After they went into the office, Renee gently set Sarah down on the floor while Jack shut the door and closed the blinds on the glass walls of the office.

Renee tried to make Sarah comfortable by gently cushioning Sarah's head with a folded jacket she found inside the office, but Sarah continued to wince in agony. The sharp pain in her left abdomen continued to overwhelm her senses. Right now, she didn't know how long she could hold it together without fainting. As Sarah continued to struggle with the pain, a cold and terrifying realization came up in her mind: There might be a chance she would not make it out of this situation alive. Sarah tried to ignore the terrifying thought and tried to stay positive, but she was still bleeding badly and right now, she couldn't even move without intensifying the pain from her gunshot wound. _Damn it..._ she cursed silently.

"Jack, she has lost a lot of blood...we really need to get her to a hospital now..." Renee said. Right now, Sarah's condition had gone from bad to worse. Her face was white as a sheet. Renee knew that if Sarah did not receive any medical attention soon, she will not make it._This is not good..._

"Those men had the building locked down pretty tight. I don't think we can get pass them. We need to get a message out." Jack said to Renee. Despite his burning desire to get her and the wounded young agent out of this unsafe place, Jack knew it was very risk and difficult to sneak pass those commandos. Because when he was monitoring the commandos' radio chatters earlier, he learned that those men had every exit in the ground floor covered. From those radio chatters, Jack also knew that those men seemed to have the field office's security camera feed in the ground floor, hence making it almost impossible to sneak pass them. Therefore, he knew their only hope was trying to contact the outside. Jack then began to think of a way to do so.

"Is the help coming? I mean, they hit a Federal building for God's sake...this kind of thing cannot go unnoticed..." Renee said while trying her best to hide her panicky tone. After hearing what Jack said, Renee became a little more perplexed, especially considering those gunmen were probably hunting the three of them actively. Right now, Renee really wished for the Cavalry to show up at this very instant.

"I think these guys planned for that as well. The phones are down and the cell phones don't work...they seem to have jammed all the communications..." Jack stated as he searched the office for additional supplies. He wished there was a first aid kit around. Although Jack knew a first aid kit wouldn't do much in Sarah's situation, at least they could treat her wound with it. Unfortunately, he did not find any.

"Damn it...Who the hell are those guy anyway?" Renee wondered as she tended Sarah. Sarah, on the other hand, continued to whimper in pain as struggled with the razor-sharp pain in her left abdomen.

"I don't know. It's possible that Kirilenko got allies in Moscow who also want the same thing as he wants." Jack answered as he searched through the desk drawers. He founded a Glock 19 and two spare magazines inside one of the drawers. After he quickly placed the gun and the spare magazines on the desk, Jack continued to search the other drawers for more supplies or items they could use. Renee, on the other hand, alternated her attention between Jack and Sarah. From the looks of it, she knew Jack probably already had a plan in his mind.

"We need to get to the building's emergency broadcast system. They can jam the phones, but if they jam the frequency of the emergency broadcast, every cop in L.A. will be alerted..." Jack said after he finished searching through the office. Jack knew that the building's emergency broadcast frequency always needs to stay open in case natural disasters, such as earthquakes or storms. Therefore, he figured those mercenaries probably wouldn't jammed the frequency since jamming it will attract a lot of unwanted attention from authorities, such as Office of Emergency Management or the LAPD. Therefore, Jack was hoping to either send a distress signal to the authorities via that frequency.

"The system...It's...it's in the... server room...Urgh!" After hearing what Jack said, with all of her remaining strength, Sarah managed to gasp the information out loud between groans. However, the pain had become even more unbearable. Sarah almost passed out after she finished that sentence.

Jack quickly came to Sarah's side and helped Renee tending her. He knew the young agent was trying to help even though she was seriously wounded. By the look of Sarah's wound, Jack thought she got about an hour to live. Therefore, it was imperative that he needed to get help to come to them as soon as possible. Although Jack wanted to tell Sarah to try not to talk in order to conserve her strength, he needed to know where the server room was so he could send out a distress signal.

"Agent Ferris, where's the server room?"

"It...It's room 603..." Sarah gasped as she winced in pain. She couldn't really think straight as the sharp pain continued to tangle with the dreadful feeling of her impeding doom. To make the matter worse, her eyes were getting heavier and heavier and her body getting weaker and weaker. Without any warning, Sarah passed after she finished her sentence.

"Sarah, just stay with me..." Renee continued to encourage the young FBI agent. However, Sarah was already passed out. Fearing for the worst, Renee quickly checked Sarah's pulse. Fortunately, Sarah was still alive, but her pulse was very weak. Renee then became even more worried. At the same time, Jack also feared for the worst, but after seeing Renee gave him a look saying that the young FBI agent was alive, he became a bit more relieved.

"I'm gonna go to the server room and try to send a distress signal...Renee, you to stay here with her." Jack ordered Renee in his no-nonsense tone, and then he walked toward the door. After seeing Sarah passed out, he knew the young FBI agent didn't have much time left in her hour glass. Jack knew he had to act soon.

"You gonna go out there alone?" Renee protested. "Jack! Those guys are probably all over the place..." The thought of Jack putting himself in a dangerous situation was something Renee couldn't bear. The memories of that night 18 months ago still haunted her. She still felt guilty about dragging Jack, who had finally found some peace with his family, into that dangerous undercover operation where he ended up getting tortured by members of "Red Square". She also recalled that night at the docks where those IRK radicals almost killed Jack. Now, he was diving head first into another extremely dangerous situation again. _Not this time._ She thought. Not if she could do something to help him.

"Look, Renee... I know you're trying to help but I really think you should stay here..." Jack said to Renee after sensing her desire to tag along with him. He then shifted his attention to Sarah. "She couldn't defend herself in her current condition. You need to stay here and make sure she's alright. There's a Glock 19 and two spare mags on the table..."

Upon seeing Sarah's current condition, Renee knew she couldn't leave her behind, even temporary. That poor girl could barely stay conscious. However, she was still worried about Jack's safety. After a brief hesitation, Renee decided to listen to Jack and stay with Sarah. She hoped that Jack can make his way into the server room without any problem. Renee knew that for countless times, Jack had always triumphed against the impossible odds. At the moment, she needed to believe that.

"I'll be back shortly, I promise." Jack promised Renee, and then he quickly went out of the office and headed for the server room.

After Jack left the office, Renee put the Glock 17 she acquired from the security guard earlier aside and took the Glock 19 and two spare magazines which Jack had put on the desk. After checking the weapon, she tucked it into her jeans at the small of her back and then went back to check on Sarah. As Renee continued to tend to the wounded agent, she silent prayed for Jack's safety and hoped that the help would come soon.

**8:23:07**

Kessler sighed in relief after hearing the reports that all of his men, with the exception of the two teams he ordered to stay behind, had begun to assemble in the FBI motor pool and ready to exfiltrate from the FBI field office. By using the FBI SWAT truck his men came into the field office with, Kessler thought his men would not attract any attention from the authorities. Suddenly, one of his technicians reported some unexpected news to him.

"Mr. Kessler, CTU and LAPD are on their way to the FBI field office. It seems they got a wind of our op..." In addition to providing logistic on the assault, Kessler also had his technicians monitoring police frequencies and inter-agency communications as well.

_Damn it...Just what I need..._ Kessler cursed. "What's their ETA?" He asked calmly in his no-nonsense tone.

"15 Mikes, sir."

_That should be enough time for his men to clear out of the building_. Kessler thought. However, Kessler also thought CTU's presence could easily complicate his men's exit strategy. Fortunately, he had anticipated such possibility while he was planning the operation. Therefore, a contingency plan was created for such case. Kessler quickly radioed the team which he placed outside the FBI field office.

"Oxide to Disciple Two, we got CTU and LAPD incomings within 15 Mikes, you know what to do."

"_Roger that, Oxide, we're already at Point Delta, Disciple Two out_."

Meanwhile, inside the CTU bullpen, Devlin watched the live aerial feed from the drone on the giant screen as the analysts continued to process and coordinate information.

"Mr. Devlin, Our drone is almost in position." The drone pilot said as she maneuvered the CTU drone. The drone had dropped its altitude in order to get a better picture of the surrounding of the FBI field office.

"Good. How far is the TAC team and the LAPD?"

"About 15 minutes, sir."

As Devlin and his analysts continued to watch the live video feed from the CTU drone on the giant screen, all of the sudden, a series of bleep warning sounds came from the drone plot's station.

"What the hell..." The drone pilot muttered upon hearing the bleeping warning sounds. It seemed like something had locked on to the CTU drone. She quickly checked the radar display in her work station and it showed two fast moving targets approaching the drone fast. _Those are definitely SAMs._ She thought. "Sir, I got multiple incomings..." the drone pilot said to Devlin, while trying not to give any hint of panic in her tone. However, just after she finished her sentence, the live video feed from the drone instantly dissolved into statics.

"What the hell just happened?" Devlin asked, after seeing the live feed from the drone went static.

"I don't know, sir, it appeared to be the drone had been shot down by surface-to-air missiles..." The drone pilot answered.

"I thought the drone has anti-ballistic system?"

"I thought so too, but I honestly don't know what happened...but it said the anti-ballistic system on the drone had already engaged the incoming missiles..."

_Damn it..._Devlin thought. CTU drone getting shot down only confirmed one thing: The FBI field office was indeed being attacked by un-identified hostile forces, and from the looks of it, the hostile forces had some serious firepower. That alone made the situation a lot worse than he thought. Quickly, he turned to one of his analysts.

"How soon can you re-task the satellite?"

"It's gonna take a while..." The analyst said nervously.

"I don't care if you have to steal NSA's bandwidth, just get it done! I need the satellite coverage of the FBI field office and its surrounding area." Devlin ordered. "By the way, tell the choppers to hang back..."

Meanwhile, on top of a high rise couple blocks from the FBI field office, one of Kessler's men was lowering his launcher for the Type 91 missile while his teammate observed the explosion in the sky via his high power binocular. Kessler had strategically deployed the Disciple Two team on top of different high rises near the FBI field office in order to provide the maximum anti-aircraft coverage. Each team actually carried Japanese made Man-Portable Air-Defence System (MANPADS) that was capable of locking on to the smaller aerial target, such as unmanned aerial vehicles due to its advanced target-acquisition system. Despite the fact that the Type 91 surface-to-air missile looked like the famous FIM-92 stinger missile, in addition to its IR homing system, it actually had an advanced image seeker which recorded the its target's image profile. As a result, the missile was impossible to be intercepted by the CTU drone's anti-ballistic system, which operated on infrared frequency jamming principle. The mercenaries also launched two missiles at once in order to maximize their chances of taking down the CTU drone. In addition, the missiles had IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe), which meant they would not have to worry about accidentally shooting down their own helicopter, which were en-route to the FBI field office. After observing the explosion in the sky, one of the mercenaries spoke to his radio.

"Oxide, this is Disciple Two, the enemy drone has been neutralized. We'll continue to engage the enemy's secondary air assets until the all fire teams finish their exfiltration."

Just after he said that to his radio, another explosion lighted up the sky like firework. It appeared his teammate on top of the other high rise had taken down a LAPD helicopter.

At the same time, a fleet of SUV, SWAT vans, and police cruisers were speeding towards the FBI field office. Inside one of the SUV is CTU's director of the field operation, Evan Seaver, received the news of both CTU drone and an LAPD helicopter got shot down by the unknown forces. _How the hell could it have happened? Isn't the drone supposed to have the anti-ballistic system?_He thought. He also thought that whoever those guys were, they were probably damn well prepared, which meant they were gonna have a fight on their hands.

"Evan, our drone is down, and LAPD just reported their chopper was down also. We can't risk sending in the choppers, which means you gonna have to go in blind. We are in process of re-tasking the satellite, so we should get you the infrared coverage soon." Devlin said over the comm. Despite he wanted to approach the situation more cautiously, with Secretary of the State and Russian Foreign Minister's lives at stake, he needed the CTU TAC team to get in the field office as soon as possible in order to resolve this situation quickly. It was already an international incident, and Devlin wanted to make sure it will not get any worse.

"Copy that. We're on our way." Evan replied. _This is not good..._ The young director of the field operation thought if those guys shot down the CTU drone and an LAPD helicopter, it was possible that they were prepared for a siege. That meant those guys were probably already entrenched inside the FBI field office. He did not like any of it. They did not have any intel on those hostiles and they did not have the aerial supports. _Damn it._ Seaver cursed silently. Without aerial assets, he thought the operation just became a lot more difficult. However, as an ex-Army Ranger, Seaver had overcome his far share of challenges on the hills of Afghanistan. He needed to believe that this time was no exception. As long as he and his men stayed calm and worked together with the LAPD SWAT, they will resolve the situation with minimal casualties. As the CTU van sped toward the FBI field office, Seaver began to briefly go over the tactical plans with his men again, hoping to get his men even more prepared for the possible challenge to come.

**8:32:41**

After a short while, Sarah began slowly waking up again. As her senses slowly coming back, her memories also slowly came back as well. Suddenly, she remembered something. Something serious. Sarah remembered while she was lying on the floor of the observation room, she overheard the commandos talking about planting C4 in the server room. _Oh no!_Upon realizing that she forgot to tell Jack about that, Sarah was jolted awake by that terrifying realization. However, just as she was jolted awake, the pain in her left abdomen intensified. As a result, despite she desperately wanted to tell Jack and Renee about the commandos and explosives in the server room, all Sarah could manage were groans as she tried to fight the razor sharp pain from her gunshot wound with the little strength she had.

Renee, after noticing Sarah was waking up, quickly tended to her again. "Shh... Relax and try not to talk..." Renee said softly. She wanted Sarah to conserve her strength. However, from the looks of it, she could see that the poor girl was struggling to tell her something.

"Renee...I...I overheard...those guys ar...are gonna blow up the server room..." After mustering whatever strength she had left, Sarah managed to gasp the information out in a barely audible voice. She felt absolutely terrible for forgetting to tell Jack such important information.

After hearing that, Renee was stunned. A lot of troubling thoughts suddenly flooded into Renee's mind. The first thing she thought was that that If those gunmen were gonna blow up the server, then that meant Jack was literally walking into a room with those heavily armed gunmen and explosives. _What if they already armed the explosives and Jack walked into there..._The mental image of Jack getting caught inside the explosion terrified Renee to her core. Renee tried to stay positive by pushing that horrible thought into the back of her head._Maybe they already blew up the server room..._ Renee figured. However, she also thought that if those gunmen successfully destroyed the FBI servers and records contained within them, not only the proof of Kirilenko's involvement in the Moscow subway attack will disappear, it's possible that the proof of Jack's innocence in the matter of IRK Foreign Minister's assassination will also disappear. Besides, Jack won't be able to send the distress signal out if the server room was destroyed. _Damn it..._ She cursed silently. Renee wanted to yell at Sarah for not telling her and Jack about this, but she couldn't because she knew it was not Sarah's fault, since the poor FBI agent was already struggling for her life. Right now, she wanted to find Jack and tell him about the gunmen planting explosives in the server room, but she couldn't just flat out abandon Sarah. Renee struggled with the hard choice she had to make.

On the other hand, Sarah noticed Jack was already gone. _Oh no..._ She knew Jack was heading toward the server room. Ignoring the tremendous pain in her left abdomen, Sarah said to Renee. "Just...go help... Jack..." Sarah blamed herself for wasn't able to rely that critical piece of information to Jack and Renee. The last thing she wanted was to become a burden to both of them. Sarah knew she was dying and she didn't have much time left. That actually scared Sarah a lot, but she then reminded herself what she had signed up for when she first joined the FBI. Therefore, she made up her mind and urged Renee to leave her and go help Jack.

Renee, however, was still unsure what she should do. She didn't want to leave Sarah on her own, but she didn't want any harm to come to Jack, either. She couldn't make up her mind.

"Renee...I...I don't think I'm not gonna make it...Just...Just...get out of here with Jack..." Sarah gasped with the last of her strength. She simply didn't have the strength to stay awake, let along to fight the darkness that was eager to consume her. Before she knew it, her world went completely black.

"Sarah! Sarah!" Renee said after seeing Sarah passed out again. She then quickly checked Sarah's pulse again. _Oh no..._ Renee was almost panicked when she couldn't find any pulse. "C'mon, Sarah, just stay with me...just stay with me..." Renee desperately encouraged Sarah to continue fighting for her survival. However, Sarah didn't respond to any of Renee's pleads. She just sat against the desk and remained motionless. After realizing what happened, Renee felt defeated. Suddenly, a wave of guilt swept through her. _Maybe she wouldn't have gotten shot if I just came out of that interrogation room and helped her...Maybe she wouldn't have gotten shot if I hadn't dragged her into this mess..._ Renee bitterly played out every possible scenario in her mind as her tears rolled down her cheeks. She also recalled the moment when she failed to save Marika Donoso after pulling her out of a burning SUV. Renee hated to see good and innocent people meet their unexpected demise, and she hated herself for being so useless that she couldn't save them in time.

"I'm so sorry..." Renee repeated very softly to Sarah, even though Sarah couldn't hear what she said. After crying for a short while, she then realized that Jack was still heading to the server room. She needed to warn him about the gunmen who were planting explosive charges. Therefore, Renee quickly rushed out the office with her Glock 19. She thought too many people, including Sarah, had died because of her or the mistakes she made. She couldn't let Jack became one of them. _Not a chance in hell..._

**8:37:25**

Since the server room was on the opposite side of building, Jack decided to cut through the bullpen rather than going around the hallway. He figured cutting through the bullpen would be faster. Also, it was safer because the maze of cubic walls provided good concealment for his movements. After Jack entered the bullpen, he saw the gruesome sight of those gunmen's handiwork earlier. There were bodies of dead FBI agents and blood splatters everywhere, regardless whether it was inside cubicles or on the aisles between the cubicles. It was like someone purposely turned this once busy office into a hellish war-zone. Unfazed by the horrifying sight, Jack tried to stay low as he moved cautiously through the aisle inside the maze of cubicle walls. As he moved pass a cubicle, all of the sudden, he heard crackled radio conversation coming from the far side of the bullpen. Quickly, he went into an empty cubicle. Jack then took a peek over the cubicle wall. He saw three commandos in the far side of the room. They had their weapons raised and walking cautiously down the aisle between the cubicles. The green targeting lasers from the laser aiming modules mounted on their FN P90 submachine gun literally followed the commandos' aims as they carefully checked their corners.

"Damn it..._"_Jack muttered as he retrieved into an empty cubicle next to him. Those commandos actually blocked his path to the door that led to the hallway in front of the server room. Just as he was thinking of a way to evade the commandos' patrol, all of the sudden, he noticed some movements inside the cubicle across the aisle. Jack turned around and saw desk agent Marci Reynolds slowly crawling out from her hiding spot under the desk. From the looks of it, she had been hiding under the desk for a quite a while. After she saw Jack Bauer, Agent Reynolds became even more frightened._What the hell is he doing here and how the hell did he get a gun?_ Scared by what she saw, Agent Reynolds gave Jack a "Please don't kill me" look. Jack, on the other hand, simply signalled the terrified FBI agent to hide under the desk again. After realizing Jack meant no harm, Agent Reynolds slowly began to retreat back into her original hiding spot.

At the same time, one of the commandos began to converse with the commandos in the server room via his radio as the other two teammates continued to sweep the area.

"Are those charges rigged yet? We only got 10 minutes left to get our asses to the rooftop for evac!"

"_Negative, we still need another 5 minutes..."_ One of the commandos inside the server room reported via his radio. They were still busy rigging the C4 charges on all of the servers. The commandos wanted to ensure the complete destruction of all of the servers in that room, so they meticulously planted the C4 charges to ensure maximum destruction.

"We don't have 5 minutes!" The commando shouted at his comm. device. However, just as he finished shouting that sentence, he heard a ruckus coming from one of the cubicles. The sound of shattering glass quickly alerted him. It was actually from Agent Reynolds, who accidently knocked over a coffee mug on the desk as she was crawling under it.

"Contact!" The commandos shouted, and then he and his teammate open fire at the direction of the disturbance. Normally, they would at least try to approach the site of disturbance with extreme caution. However, due to the fact that multiple squads were taken out by unknown hostiles earlier, they became a bit jumpy. Therefore, all three commandos decided it was safer for them to shoot first and then investigate later.

After he saw bullets raining down at Agent Reynolds location, without any hesitation, Jack quickly popped out from behind of the cubicle wall and returned fire at those commandos. Jack also didn't want see the poor FBI agent getting shot by those gunmen

Once they saw Jack popping out from one of cubicle, all three commandos instinctively scattered and took cover behind the cubicles walls nearby. After they were behind their covers, quickly, they returned fire at Jack's direction. As two of the commandos engaged Jack, the third commando quickly began to circle around Jack's position in an attempt to flank him.

Jack quickly retreated into the cubicle after a brief exchange of fire with the commandos. Massive amount of gunfire from both commandos' FN P90 submachine guns continued to rain down at his position. The bullets pierced through the soft material of the cubicle walls and hit whatever items that was on the desk. Jack, who was staying low behind the desk inside the cubicle, ejected his spent magazine from his USP Compact. He knew he was pinned down by those commandos' gunfire. _Damn it..._He thought. As he started to brainstorm a viable tactic to get out of this tactical disadvantage, Jack inserted a fresh magazine into his pistol, and then resumed firing at the commandos.

At the same time, after hearing the team in the bullpen engaged hostile elements over on the radio, one of the commandos in the server room stopped setting the C4 charges. He knew they were running out of the time and they needed to complete their objective at all cost. "We have to go with Plan B" The commando said to his teammate as he took out two standalone version of M26 modular shotguns outfitted with M4 style buttstocks from his duffle bag on the floor. Those two lightweight shotguns were loaded with quadrangle buckshot, which was a specialized round designed to destroy the inside of anything delicate. Therefore, this type of ammunition was also ideal for taking out inside components of computer servers as well. Although the use of this type of ammunition would not guarantee the complete destruction of all of the servers, the commando had no other choice. After cocking the shotguns, the commandos started firing at the servers like crazy.

Meanwhile, Renee was already inside the bullpen. She figured that Jack must have avoided the hallways and tried to cut through the bullpen instead, since cutting through the bullpen was a faster and safer. As Renee stayed low and moved along the side of the outer most cubicle walls, she heard Jack's gunshots, followed by a series of muffled gunshots from those mercenaries' silenced FN P90. _Damn it...Jack's already in trouble..._Renee worried. She quickly took a peek over the cubicle wall and saw Jack, who was getting pinned by the submachine gun fire from two commandos in front of him. She also saw another commando, who seemed to be trying to sneaking up on Jack's position. Without any hesitation, Renee fired two shots at the commando who tried to sneak up on Jack, killing the commando as one of her bullet hit him in his head.

The two commandos who were shooting at Jack quickly noticed Renee shot their teammate from behind the outer most cubicle wall. Abruptly, they shifted their fire from Jack's direction to Renee's direction. Upon seeing the two commandos shifted their attention to her, Renee quickly ducked down just as commandos bullets flew past her. After she ducked down, Renee stayed low and moved along the side of the outer cubicle wall, trying to flank those two commandos.

After he realized the commandos shifted fires, Jack popped out from behind the cubicle wall again and opened fire at the commandos and killed one of them. The lone remaining commando shifted his aim at Jack's direction again. However, after a brief exchange, his FN P90 ran out of ammo. Instinctively, he ducked behind the cover and quickly took out the spent magazine from the top of his FN P90. Just as he was about to take out a fresh magazine from one of his ammo pouches, he noticed someone was at his left flank. Before the commando could reach for his side arm, Renee quickly shot the commando in his head, killing him instantly.

After the bullets stopped flying, Jack took a peek from behind the cubical wall and noticed the commandos were dead. With his gun raised, Jack stood up and quickly advanced towards the dead commandos. At the same time, Renee stood up and saw Jack on her 10 'clock direction.

"Jack!" Renee said as she lowered her weapon. She was relieved that Jack was alright and she caught Jack before he went into the server room.

Upon seeing Renee, Jack lowered his weapon and approached her. "Renee, what are you doing here?" Jack said in surprise_. Why is she putting herself in danger again?_ _Why won't she ever listen to me?_Jack thought he knew Renee could take care herself in the field, but after what happened in that horrible day 18 months ago, he couldn't bear watching her getting hurt, or worse, dying. _Why can't her see that?_ After Jack saw her in her meeting with Kirilenko, he made a promise to himself that he would protect Renee and kept her alive, even from herself if necessary.

"Jack, Sarah said those guys are setting the charges in the server room, they gonna blow up the servers..." Renee explained as fast as she could.

After hearing what Renee said, Jack wondered why Renee didn't stay with Agent Ferris, considering she was badly injured. "Why didn't you stay with Agent Ferris?" He asked. In truth, Jack was kind of surprised and slightly angry at Renee for leaving that wounded young agent behind like that. He thought that was extremely uncharacteristic of her. However, just as soon as he asked the question, Renee's face darkened instantly. After seeing Renee's sad expression, Jack realized what happened to that young agent. Quickly, Jack gave Renee a pained look, signaling that he knew what happened and he was sorry about the young agent's demise.

Renee knew what Jack was trying to tell her through his pained look, and she nodded back in acknowledgment. She wanted to collapse on his shoulder and cry. She was tired of seeing good people perished. However, Renee also knew that now was not the time because they still needed to stop those gunmen from destroying the servers and send out a distress signal. "We need to get to the server room." Renee said determinedly, while tried to bottle up the pain and sorrow she was feeling at this instant.

Jack nodded, and then he and Renee headed for door that led to the hallway in front of the server room. Initially, Jack thought he and Renee could try to sneak pass those mercenaries to safety. But after sensing Renee's determination in her tone, he knew she was gonna go to the server room to send a distress signal and stop those mercenaries from destroying the servers. He knew Renee was quite stubborn when she got her mind made up. Besides, there were still people, like Agent Reynolds, trapped in the building. Jack couldn't just leave them behind. Therefore, he decided to send a distress signal out first, and then he will try to sneak pass the mercenaries with Renee.

After they both reaching the door, Jack stacked against the right side of the door and Renee stacked against the left side of the door. He signaled Renee, telling her to cover him while he goes out into the hallway. Renee nodded in return. Jack then opened the door and carefully stepped out of the bullpen into the hallway. So far, the hallway was clear. He could see the server room not far from his position. Quickly, he stepped out into the hallway with his gun trained at the direction of the server room. Renee followed Jack and kept her gun trained at the same direction as well. Just as both Jack and Renee began to advance toward the server room, a commando walked out of the server room. Although the commando had his weapon raised, he did not notice Jack and Renee approaching from his left. Both Jack and Renee opened fire at the commando simultaneously, killing the commando.

Upon seeing his teammate got killed after stepping out of the server room, the commando was still inside the server room panicked. He fell back further into the server room and started unloading his FN P90 at the door. Upon noticing hail of gunfire coming from inside the server room, Jack hugged the wall on his right and signalled Renee to stay behind him. _Damn it... he was probably gonna blow those charges..._ Jack thought. He needed to get in there fast. After noticing the gunfire stopped, Jack quickly rushed into the server room.

After emptying his FN P90, the lone commando dropped his submachine gun and shouted desperately into his radio. "Oxide, we encountered..." However, before he could finish that statement, Jack rushed into the server room and shot him twice in the chest. The commando, despite being knocked down by Jack's shots, still managed to try to reach for his side arm. However, Jack simply aimed his gun at his head and pulled the trigger.

At the same time, after hearing his men's interrupted communication, Kessler figured the hostile elements had killed his men. Coldly, he ordered his technician to reroute the helicopter he sent for those men's extraction, and then he walked away from the array of monitors. Although his men had completed all of their objectives, Kessler still felt they had taken away too many casualties. He also began to suspect those hostile elements who took out his men might be more than just simple federal agents...

After making sure the server room was clear, Jack saw that all FBI servers in the field office had already been destroyed. It appeared that the servers had been shot up. _Damn it..._ He cursed. He was too late. But Jack then thought he would have to worry about those destroyed records later. Right now, he needed to find the emergency broadcast system in order to send a distress signal. He just hoped those bastards didn't manage to destroy that as well...

After following Jack into the server room, Renee was shocked by the same thing Jack just saw. _I thought we stopped them from rigging the explosives...How come those bastards still manage to destroy the servers?_Renee thought angrily. She didn't want to see any proof about Kirilenko's involvement in IRK Foreign Minister's assassination and Moscow subway attack perished. _Maybe we can still salvage some of the data..._ Just was thinking about that, she heard multiple footsteps coming from all direction, and they were getting closer.

"Jack..." Renee said. However, before she could finish her sentence, several CTU TAC team members and CTU agents appeared at the door of the server room.

"Drop the weapons!" One of the TAC team members shouted.

Initially, both Jack and Renee were shocked to see CTU TAC team there, considering they haven't even sent out a distress signal. At the same time, a wave of relief travelled through them. They didn't know how, but the help had arrived. Both Jack and Renee complied with CTU TAC team's demand and dropped their respective weapons.

"Hands on your heads now!" After seeing both suspects dropped their weapons, the CTU TAC team quickly stormed into the server room and secured them both. One of the CTU agents then spoke to his radio, stating that his team had found Jack Bauer and an unknown woman.

Despite being handcuffed, Jack was relieved. He thought it was fortunate that Renee made through this horrible ordeal without any scratch on her. Now, with the arrival of CTU TAC team, he knew Renee was going to be safe. However, it also meant this might be the last chance he was going to see her again, since CTU was probably gonna transfer Renee to US Marshal's custody after finding out who she was. Jack also knew once he was in CTU custody, he still had to face the consequence for his actions 18 months ago, but he could live with that as long as he knew Renee and his family were safe.

Despite being handcuffed by CTU agents, Renee knew it was standard procedure so she didn't really mind. However, seeing Jack getting handcuffed again, her heart broke into a million pieces and the waves of guilt came back to haunt her...

**8:46:19**

After driving for a while, the SUV carrying the mercenaries and the kidnapped Russian Foreign Minister finally arrived at a closed hotel. Originally, the hotel was closed for renovation, but during the renovation, the company that owns the hotel bankrupted. As a result, the hotel became empty and abandoned, which makes it a perfect hiding spot. Once the mercenaries' SUV came to a stop, Four Middle Eastern men came out of the building to meet with the mercenaries. Those men were armed with hand guns and submachine guns. From the look of it, these men were not entire happy to see the mercenaries since they had been waiting for them for a while.

Once the mercenaries got out of their vehicles, two of them walked to the SUV's trunk and carried an unconscious Lugansky out of the SUV while the other two kept their MP7 submachine gun ready just in case. The mercenaries dropped Lugansky off in front of those four Middle Eastern men.

"He's all yours. The anesthetic should be wearing off soon." One of the mercenaries said without display any emotion. After dropping off Lugansky, he and his teammate got back into their SUV and quickly drove away from the hotel.

After the mercenaries left, the Middle Eastern men lifted the black hood off Lugansky's head to verify the man those mercenaries had just dropped off was indeed the Russian Foreign Minister Seymon Lugansky. After the four men verified Lugansky's identity, they began to carry Lugansky into the hotel. At the time, Lugansky was still unconscious. He remained oblivious to what was going on.

"Those mercs have delivered the Russian to us, we're bringing him up." One of the Middle Eastern men said to his walkie-talkie as the others started carrying Lugansky back to the hotel.

"Good." Karim Zahir said to his walkie-talkie as his men began to set up various equipments inside an empty room. Zahir and his men were one of IRK splinter groups who opposed IRK's current administration. He had always hated the fact that Hassan government had reconciled with the West and abandoned Kamistan's nuclear ambition. Therefore, Zahir was glad that traitorous bastard, Omar Hassan, was publically executed and his execution was broadcasted via the internet for the world to see. However, he did not anticipate Dalia Hassan succeeding her late husband as the President of Kamistan and continued to carry his husband's work. He also couldn't believe Council of Guardians actually allowed that to happen. It made him sick to his stomach. To make the matter worse, Dalia Hassan seemed to be hell bent on avenging her husband's death. In Zahir's mind, he thought that not only she secretly sent out her goons to hunt down those she called "extremists", that bitch was apparently insane enough to launch an attack on Russia. Now, the Russia was hunger for payback. Despite the fact he hated Dalia Hassan's government, he couldn't stand to see Kamistan getting invaded by any foreign forces. He knew Kamistani people will suffer if that happened. Having always considered himself as a true Kamistani patriot, Zahir thought he needed to dig the people of Kamistan out of the hole that corrupt bitch Dalia Hassan dig herself into.

"Karim, should we continue to trust those men? What if they sell us out?" One of Zahir's men asked as he took out electronic equipments from a briefcase.

"If those men are going to do so they have done it by now... Besides, we don't need them anymore. We already got what we want from them." Zahir replied. After that failed peace treaty 18 months ago, IRK's foreign and domestic intelligence services, whom under Dalia Hassan's orders, had been covertly hunting extremists like him across the globe, as a result, a lot of Zahir's allies perished and his resources was drying up. After hearing the news of Russia's possible military action against Kamistan, Zahir and his men wanted to do something to make the Russians back off, but he simply didn't have the resource to do anything. However, just as his luck had it, a man named Kessler approached Zahir. Kessler claimed that he was sympathetic to the Zahir's causes and wanted to help him. Zahir, who was extremely desperate at the time, accepted Kessler's help despite his strong suspicion. What surprised him was that he did not expect Kessler to be such a good ally. Not only Kessler had provided him and his men with weapons, equipments, and additional logistic support, Kessler had also suggested that his men grabbed Russian Foreign Minister for him. So far, Kessler and his men had made good on their promises, which made Zahir thought that maybe his initial suspicion was unfounded and Kessler truly believed in his causes.

As Zahir pondered his thoughts, four of Zahir's men walked into the room with a still unconscious Lugansky. Once Zahir saw Lugansky's face, he let out a smile. Everything was going as he planned. Zahir thought he and his men will make history tonight. He will show that the people of Kamistan will not be intimidated by any foreign power...

**8:50:23**

CTU and LAPD had managed to secure the FBI field office effortlessly. It was mainly because pretty much all of Kessler's men had already pulled out before CTU and LAPD commenced their assault. Therefore, CTU and LAPD did not encounter any heavy resistance as they expected. However, the damages had already been done. During the attack, many FBI agents were killed or seriously wounded. To make the matter even worse, the Secretary of the State was dead and the Russian Foreign Minister was nowhere to be found. The entire scene was chaotic at the best. CTU TAC team continued to sweep the area for any hostiles or signs of Russian Foreign Minister. As paramedic arrived and began to treat the wounded, Evan Seaver, who was inside the bullpen, spoke to Devlin over the phone.

"Sir...it's a real mess in here...it's like someone turned the field office into a shooting gallery..." Seaver said. He tried to hide his sadness and anger while he observed the aftermath of those mercenaries' assault.

At the same time, Devlin was also seeing the aftermath of the attack on the huge screen inside the CTU bullpen. CTU agents at the site had been streaming direct video feed live from the FBI field office, so therefore, he knew what Seaver was talking about. Devlin and the rest of CTU staffs were shocked by the aftermath. They still couldn't believe that a Federal building was attacked.

"Did you find Secretary Ross and Minister Lugansky?" Devlin asked.

"Un...sir, we have some bad news. Secretary Ross was dead. We found his body in one of the hallways." Seaver reported. He hated to be the bearer of bad news, but sometimes bad things happened and he just had no choice but to do so.

"Damn it!" Devlin said angrily. He was also shocked by the news at the same time. _How is that possible? The Secretary of the State was inside a Federal building full of armed Federal agents, not to mention he had Secret Service with him...and who the hell are those bastard who did all of these?_Devlin wondered. He hoped he would get some answers soon but right now, he got another question.

"What about the Russian Foreign Minister? Any sign of him?"

"Negative, sir, the TAC team is combing the area as we speak..."

_Goddamnit! It just got worse_... Devlin thought. If a Federal building got attacked and the Secretary of the State was killed in process weren't enough, now he got a high ranking foreign dignitary missing. Devlin closed his eyes for a second and tried to remain in his calm demeanour, and then he asked. "Any idea who those guys are?"

"The forensics just started processing the scene." Seaver reported, and then he took a look at the dead mercenary nearby. "But from the looks of it, these guys are probably hired guns. Expensive hire guns judging by the gears they were carrying."

"Alright, have forensics comb through every inch of the building and send everything back to CTU ASAP. I want to know who the hell these guys are and who are they working for."

"Yes, sir... I also have some good news. We got Jack Bauer in custody. We also got a woman named Renee Walker in custody as well. Do we have anything on her?"

After hearing the name, Devlin told an analyst nearby to run Renee's name through the database. Within seconds, Renee's information came up on the giant display. The analyst also sent a copy of the same information to Seaver's smart phone.

"Yeah, she was a former FBI agent who assisted CTU in a sting operation with the goal of recovering rogue nuclear materials from the Russian organized crime in New York 18 months ago. She also participated in that failed rescue attempt of late IRK President Omar Hassan..." Devlin summarized what CTU had on Renee, and then something surprised him. "Wait, did you say you got her in custody with Bauer?"

"Yeah..."

"She is listed as deceased in our records. You should already have her information on your phone. Can you verify the woman in your custody is her?" Devlin ordered. What Devlin did not know was that 18 months ago, Jason Pillar and his assistant, Eden Linley, had sanitized Renee's CTU records so that the records did not specify the actual cause of her supposed death.

"Let me check..." Seaver quickly walked out of the bullpen and then proceeded to an empty office which CTU was using to hold Jack and Renee at the moment. Both Jack and Renee were sitting inside the empty office and both are handcuffed. Due to the fact that Jack Bauer was still considered a federal fugitive, there were armed CTU TAC team members stood guard outside the office. Seaver looked through the glass wall of the office and saw Renee, who was sitting beside Jack at the moment. After seeing Renee, Seaver then shifted his attention to Renee's picture on his smart phone. _What the hell..._ He thought. He then reported the finding to Devlin.

"Yeah, it's her...Unless she has an identical twin..." Seaver said in surprise. "Sir, with all due respect, what the hell is going on?"

Devlin was also puzzled about this as well. "We don't know. Maybe she's in witness protection...I'll have Oscar contact US Marshals. We'll also pull her FBI records as well. Meanwhile, just keep her in our custody for the moment. Our records showed that she had worked closely with Bauer when she was assisting CTU's New York branch 18 months ago. We can assume there was a possibility that she's one of Bauer's partners in crime."

"Copy that." Seaver said.

After finishing his conversation with his Director of Field Operation, Devlin called the White House to them about the new development. He thought the President will definitely not be happy to hear that Secretary of the State was dead and the Russian Foreign Minister was missing. Devlin figured that the screw up this magnitude, the Hayworth administration definitely try to look for someone to blame. _It ain't gonna be me..._Devlin thought. Therefore, Devlin will try to ensure the President that he will do everything he can in order to locate the Russian Foreign Minister and his kidnappers.

Meanwhile, inside an empty office, Jack and Renee were sitting side by side, with their hands were handcuffed behind their back. Despite CTU's security measure, Jack thought he could easily escape CTU's custody and take Renee with him, but he wasn't going to do that. Jack thought he didn't want Renee to live the life on the run, constantly looking over her shoulders. Also, he didn't want to drag her into his mess he created in the first place. He simply couldn't do that to her. Jack then turned his attention to Renee and noticed her somber expression. He figured Renee was probably still blame herself for the young agent's demise. However, just before he wanted to say something to comfort Renee, Jack saw something surprising through the office's glass wall. He saw a team of paramedics wheeling Special Agent Sarah Ferris away on a stretcher. What surprised Jack was that there was no white sheet over her head. From the looks of it, those paramedic seemed to have resuscitated the young agent and in process of rushing her to the hospital.

Renee, on the other hand, also saw Sarah got wheeled away on a stretcher. She was absolutely amazed and glad to see that Sarah was alive miraculously. Despite the fact that she was still unconscious and seriously wounded, Renee could see there were signs of life as Sarah being wheeled away. She thought that maybe at the time she didn't check Sarah's pulse thoroughly, so she mistakenly thought Sarah was dead. Upon thinking that, Rene's expression darkened. _That poor girl was still alive and I just left her there...Those gunmen could have found her and killed her..._ Despite the fact that Sarah was still alive and she managed to get the message to Jack, Renee felt absolutely terrible for leaving Sarah behind. After thinking about Jack, suddenly, another terrible thought hit her like a freight train: She had failed to help Jack. She didn't break Kirilenko in time to get the information she needed. Now Kirilenko was dead, she may never get the proof about Russian's involvement in the late IRK President, Omar Hassan's brutal murder. Not to mention that any evidence that could clear Jack's name in the IRK Foreign Minister's assassination was gone too. As a result, Jack was still in an ocean of troubles. On top of that, her actions almost got a young FBI agent killed. Renee's expression darkened considerably. _God, I made such a mess of every thing..._ the thought echoed repeatedly in her mind as she continued blaming herself for her failures. She felt defeated and useless...

"Jack...I'm so sorry..." Renee said in a barely audible voice.

After seeing Renee's guilt-ridden look, Jack knew what was going on in Renee's mind. He knew she still blamed herself for everything that had happened from that horrible day and onward. Jack's heart ached for Renee. He wished he could take all of her guilt and pain away at this instant. He wanted to hold her but those damn handcuffs prevented him from doing so.

"Renee, you don't have anything to be sorry for..." Jack said softly.

"I screwed up..." Renee said in deep despair and much self-loathing as she turned to Jack. "You are in this whole mess because of me...I tried to fix it...and I failed...Now you're still going to jail and the truth about what happened that day and three weeks ago still got buried...not to mention I almost got an FBI agent killed...God, I made such a mess of everything..."

After Renee finished, her head collapsed onto Jack's right shoulder and she began sobbing bitterly. She hated for being so weak and vulnerable and she couldn't help it. All of her painful memories suddenly flooded back as remainders of her failure. She just couldn't take it anymore.

"It's okay... It's not your fault...you are not responsible for everything that had happened..." Jack repeated it softly to Renee as she continued to cry on his shoulder. A sympathetic shoulder and comforting words were all he could give her at the moment. It was not her fault that he was in oceans of trouble. It was his choice, and she should not be feeling guilty about that. Jack wondered what would have happened if he had known she was alive. He also wondered what would have happened if he had kept in touch with her after his treatment. Regardless of which possibility, Jack was certain that it would be lot better than their current predicaments. Right now, Jack wanted to be there by Renee's side. He wanted to help Renee heal her emotional wounds. However, considering their situations, this was probably the last time they would ever be at each other's side again. Jack knew Renee will be safe after she went into the witness protection again. However, upon thinking Renee had to deal all of her emotional wounds by herself, Jack suddenly felt an immeasurable amount of sorrow and sadness. _It's not supposed to turn out like this..._He thought.

**8:55:47**

**Oval Office**

"I don't care...Just do your job and find him!" President Hayworth shouted angrily over the phone, and then he hanged up on the CTU director. After hearing the news that Secretary of the State was killed and the Russian Foreign Minister was missing, President Hayworth was absolutely furious. _How the hell could it have happened? A high ranking US government official killed on our own soil..._ Not only the whole mess made his administration looked bad, it also sparked a major international incident that could damage Russian-American relations permanently. To make the matter worse, they have no idea who kidnapped the Russian Foreign Minister. Hayworth knew the Russians were gonna find out about this soon, and they will be demanding an explanation. Upon thinking that, Hayworth closed his eyes and sighed in frustration.

"Sir, I just notified the Deputy Secretary of the State about the situation, she's already heading back from Japan..." Hayworth's chief of staff, Derek Watts stated after hanging up phone.

"You do realize that Moscow is gonna find out about this soon and we couldn't even give them an answer on who kidnapped their Foreign Minister?"

"Maybe it was Kamistani extremists, but I doubt they have the capability of launching such daring attack against us and the Russians... Or maybe it was Jack Bauer... I mean, at the moment we still have no idea what exactly went down at that FBI field office. Maybe it was part of Bauer's plan to get even with the Russians..." Watts speculated.

"Regardless, we need someone who can smooth things with the Russians for the time being. Elizabeth is good but she doesn't have much of the experience in dealing with the Russians..." Hayworth then paused for a moment. "I'm calling Ethan Kanin... He got the Russians to the negotiation table in the peace treaty and he knows the players. Maybe he can help us resolve this diplomatic crisis..."

"Sir! I think that's a bad idea..." Watts protested.

"Why is that?" Hayworth asked somewhat curiously.

"Sir, Ethan Kanin is a close friend of President Taylor. Considering we pretty much went against her naive wishes by dropping our investigation and trying to repair our relationship with the Russians, not to mention you had criticised President Taylor's actions after her resignation, therefore, he's not gonna help us. In fact, I think he might enjoy watching this administration crashes and burns on the diplomatic front..." Watts stated. He didn't hide his dislike for Ethan.

"Derek, right now the only one guy who could possibly help us with the Russians is currently brain dead." Hayworth was referring to Charles Logan. Logan's failed attempt of suicide 18 months ago resulted him being in persistent vegetated state. "Unless he miraculously recovered from the substantial brain trauma he had suffered, I don't see we have a choice. Besides, I know Ethan may not like the decisions this administration made, but I also know he's not a man who would sit back and watch while the country is facing diplomatic crisis. He will help us." Hayworth said with much certainty.

Just before Derek could spew out a word, the buzz from President's phone interrupted him.

"Mr. President, Tim Woods is here to see you. He says it's urgent."

"Alright, sent him in."

Tim Woods then quickly entered the Oval Office. "Mr. President, sorry to interrupt, but we need you and Mr. Watts in the situation room ASAP. NSA just red-flagged a live feed on the internet. It's Minister Lugansky." Tim said as he pushed a button on the remote for the LCD TV in the Oval Office. The LCD TV then displayed the live video stream. President Hayworth and Derek Watts were in absolute shock and disbelief once they saw what was on the TV: The Russian Foreign Minister was currently tied to a chair and gagged as well. A group of balaclava-wearing men surrounded him. As a show of force, those men were brandishing their weapons in front of the camera. Behind the bounded Russian Foreign Minister and the armed men was a giant flag of IRK, signifying that the Russian Foreign Minister's kidnappers were IRK nationals. One of the armed men spoke in front of the camera.

"_... For far too long, those foreign oppressors have threatened us with acts of war in order to further enslave our people. For far too long, those so-called superpowers have belittled the great Islamic Republic of Kamistan on the international stage. Not anymore. We will not tolerate these injustices any longer. Time has come to show our true strength and resolve. Today is the day we make a stand against these corrupt foreign oppressors! Today is the day our noble crusade begins!_ _Now, we have the Russian Foreign Minister, Seymon Lugansky, on our hands. Our demand is simple: Within the next two hours, the Russians must withdraw their forces completely from our country's borders. If our demand wasn't met, we will execute the Russian Foreign Minister. If we detect any attempt of rescue, we will execute him as well..."_

**08:59:57...08:59:58...08:59:59...09:00:00**

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**:O Hope you guys enjoy the story, please let me know what you think :)**

**Some Random Thoughts and Ramblings**

**Renee and Sarah:**Well, in the original draft, Renee actually did leave Sarah in the office after Sarah managed to persuade her to go help Jack. Renee also gave one of her guns to Sarah for protection before she left and by the time Renee left the office, Sarah was still conscious at the time. However, the more I went back to this the more I thought it's kinda strange for Renee's character to leave a seriously injured person behind, even if it's for the goal of helping Jack. To be honest, I really don't think she would go as that far (considering she knew Jack could handle himself). As a result, I ended up writing it so that Renee left Sarah to helped Jack simply because she thought Sarah was dead at the time (Kinda like the scene where Jack left a dead Yusuf in that phone booth in Season 2). I hope that acceptable for her character.

**Sarah's condition:** I must stress **that I'm not a doctor nor do I work in medical industries, so the medical situation I described in here was strictly fictitious**, and creative liberties are taken for the dramatic purpose. As I mention in previous chapter, without immediate medical attention, normally a person would not have survived for that long if he/she got shot in the abdomen. By the way, Sarah was indeed alive by the end of the chapter.

**Taking down CTU Drone:** Okay, I'll admit I took a bit of creative liberties here. From my understanding, UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is usually quite hard to be shot down because of its size (It's difficult to lock on something that small) and altitude. In addition to that, CTU drone had anti-ballistic system as described in Season 8's second episode. It seemed the CTU drone was actually inspired by the real life Department of Homeland Security's Project CHLOE (Yes, it's called CHLOE because the DHS director at the time was a fan of 24). Basically, Project CHLOE utilizes high altitude drone armed with anti-ballistic system to protect the airliners from MANPADS (Man-portable air-defence systems) type of threat, like FIM Stinger missile. In short, the anti-ballistic system on the drone detects and jams the anti-aircraft missiles. In addition to that, due to its fast engagement time, the system can intercept minimum of 2 missiles in the event of multiple simultaneously launched missiles. Therefore, since the show did not elaborate further on CTU drone's anti-ballistic system, so I assume it operates on the soft kill (such as IR jamming) principles. Originally, I had the mercenaries shoot multiple FIM stingers at the drone (Assuming the stinger's targeting system was able to acquire the CTU drone), but it does not work because what I have explained above. Just as I was thinking about making up some fictional surface-to-air missile, I came across the Japanese made Type 91 surface-to-air missile in my research. In addition to the IR homing capability, the Type 91 surface-to-air missile also had the image seeking capability as well, which means the missile can literally "see" and "recognize" what its target looks like. Therefore, the missile can defeat the defensive countermeasures such as flares and other anti-IR homing systems (Don't quote me on this. I'm sure it's capable of defeating countermeasure flares but I'm not too sure about the other anti-IR homing systems although some sources claim the missile can defeat those systems). I thought it might be suitable for the mercenaries to use for taking down the CTU drone. In addition, drones usually operate in high altitudes outside of the MANPADS' engagement envelope. Therefore, I kinda hand-waved that by having the CTU drone dropped its altitude. Besides, the MANPADS's are positioned on the high rises. Overall, I'll admit that I exaggerated the missile's capabilities a bit, but I hope the whole scenario sounds more grounded (No pun intended LOL).

**Islamic Republic of Kamistan: **As I was creating Karim Zahir and his group in the original draft, I actually ran into some writer's blocks regarding the fictitious Islamic Republic of Kamistan. I know IRK based on the real life Iran, but I was kind of unsure how much real life stuff I should applied in the case of IRK. In the end, I decided to omit a lot of stuff (Sunni and Shia references in particular) and keep things vague simply because the show did not specify a lot of stuff also. One thing kinda bugged me is that I know Jack spoke Arabic to an IRK radical in episode 16 of Season 8. Consider the country IRK is based on, Jack should be speaking Farsi to that guy. But then again, that guy didn't really respond to Jack so we really have no idea whether the fictitious IRK is an Arab country or a Persian country.


	15. 9:00PM 10:00PM

**Author's Note:**

I'm really sorry for the super late update this time around. Truth to be told, aside from real life obligations, I've running into some character related writer's blocks lately. As a result, this chapter was delayed severely (D'oh). Compare to previous two chapters, this chapter is not as action packed, but it does move the plot along. In addition, I also changed some of new characters' names that was introduced in the last chapter. The original names are kinda generic in my opinion so I decided to change them a bit. I apologized for any confusion the name changing might have caused.

CTU Director Thomas Hamilton = Nathan Devlin.

CTU Director of Field Ops Evan Brooks = Evan Seaver.

Again, thank you all for your kind reviews and supports. A special thanks goes to DieHardBrendan for pointing out some minor mistakes in the past chapters. I'll definitely watch out for the grammar mistakes in the future.

I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter.

Anyway, enough with my rambling, let's roll the tape...

**Additional Research Notes:**

**Quds Force:** Special Unit in Iran's Revolutionary Guard. They are basically Revolutionary Guard's covert operatives. Since Islamic Republic of Kamistan did have Revolutionary Guard like its real-life analog, so I think IRK's Revolutionary Guard also have Quds Force as well.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P

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**In the light of recent event in Moscow, some contents of the story may be unsuitable for some of the readers. Therefore, readers' discretion is strongly advised. This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.**

**Previously on 24**

After Chloe contacted the LAPD about the on-going attack on the FBI field office, CTU also discovered the attack through the LAPD as well. Due to the fact that the Secretary of the State Kevin Ross, the Russian Foreign Minister Seymon Lugansky, and Jack Bauer were inside the FBI field office, CTU's acting director, Nathan Devlin, decided to send CTU TAC team, led by CTU's director of field ops, Evan Seaver, to the location. Meanwhile, Jack Bauer and Renee Walker managed to carry a seriously wounded Special Agent Sarah Ferris to an empty office so they could hide from the mercenaries who were assaulting the place. Jack decided to try to send a distress message from the server room. After telling Renee to stay with passed-out Sarah, he then proceeded to the server room. While Renee tended to Sarah, Sarah woke up and told Renee about what she overheard from the mercenaries that they were planning to destroy the FBI servers by using C4 explosives. However, after Sarah warned Renee about the mercenaries' plan, she passed out due to her gunshot wound and blood loss. Renee, at the time mistakenly thought Sarah was dead, decided to go warn Jack about the mercenaries' plan. After finding Jack in the bullpen, both Renee and Jack then proceeded to the server room, hoping to stop the mercenaries from destroying the servers. However the mercenaries managed to destroyed the servers using specialized shotgun rounds as most of their teammates exfiltrated from the FBI field office. After Jack and Renee found out the servers were destroyed, CTU TAC team showed up and arrested both of them. While in CTU's custody, Renee saw that Sarah, who was unconscious and still alive, was being wheeled out on a stretcher. Renee then loathed herself for leaving Sarah behind and clasped on Jack's shoulder as Jack tried to comfort her. At the same time, the mercenaries, under their boss Erik Kessler's instruction, delivered the Russian Foreign Minister to the hands of IRK extremists led by Karim Zahir. After learning the Secretary of the State was killed during the assault and the Russian Foreign Minister was missing, President Mitchell Hayworth decided to bring Ethan Kanin to help them resolving the impeding diplomatic crisis. However, the IRK extremists made a live broadcast on the internet, threatening to execute the Russian Foreign Minister live on the internet if the Russians don't withdraw their forces around the IRK border within two hours...

**The following takes place between 9:00PM and 10:00PM**

**9:01:25**

As the mercenaries' SUV approached the warehouse which Kessler had used for their base of operation, the mercenaries saw two of their men quickly opened the warehouse gate, allowing them to drive into the warehouse. Once the SUV was inside the warehouse, the mercenaries who disguised as FBI agents quickly got out of their vehicle. At the same time, Kessler and one of his technicians walked toward those mercenaries, eager to see the spoil his men had looted from the battlefield. Upon seeing their boss, one of the mercenaries quickly took out the metallic briefcase containing the device that was obtained from the Russian Foreign Minister. He held up the case and then opened it. Inside the case, a device resembled a satellite phone laid on top of gray protective foam.

"Have you disabled the transponder and remote activation mechanism?" Kessler asked the mercenary after seeing the content inside the metallic briefcase.

"Yes, they are disabled." The mercenary answered.

"Good." Kessler said, and then he turned to his technician. "How long will it take to decrypt the module?"

"A couple of hours perhaps...we're dealing with military grade encryption here." Kessler's technician replied.

"Then you better get started. Notify me once you're done." Kessler said to the technician. As he watched the technician carefully took the module out of the metallic briefcase, Kessler thought now he just needed to keep monitoring the on-going situation concerning Karim Zahir and the Russian Foreign Minister. _Everything is going as planned..._ Kessler grinned.

**9:04:43**

**Islamic Republic of Kamistan**

"How the hell could it have happened?" Dalia Hassan asked angrily as she walked toward the meeting chamber where an emergency meeting between her, the head of Guardian Council, her Ministers, and her Generals will take place. Dalia had called the emergency meeting after her Minister of Intelligence and National Security, Yusuf Ashani, notified her about the extremists' live broadcast on the internet. Despite it was actually morning in the Islamic Republic of Kamistan, she was feeling quite tired since she did not get much sleep lately. Dalia was absolutely shocked and disgusted by the event. _IRK is already at Russia's crosshair and now, those idiots are making things even worse..._ Dalia worried. She wondered which side were those extremists on. "Do we have any idea who those men are?" She asked Ashani, who was also walking along side of her.

"I'm sorry, Madam President, we don't have much information on the identity of those men at the moment. My people are already working on it as we speak. However, I do suspect those men might have something to do with the attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago..." Yusuf Ashani answered as he walked along side of Dalia. Ashani had been a loyal friend of the Hassan family long before Omar Hassan became the President of Islamic Republic of Kamistan. He was one of few people Dalia Hassan truly trusted, especially in the time of crisis. After the tragic assassination of her husband, Dalia Hassan had dismissed the original Minister of Intelligence and appointed Ashani for the position. Motivated by her desire to avenge her husband's death, originally, Dalia wanted to initiate a nationwide crackdown to remove all extremist elements in her country. However, Ashani talked her out of doing it. He explained to Dalia that by initiating crackdowns not only it was bad for IRK's international reputation, it might antagonize the people and turn them against her administration. Ashani then proposed that by utilizing the IRK's intelligence services, they could eliminate those extremists by assassinating them covertly. That way, Dalia's administration would not antagonize the people of Kamistan. Dalia agreed to it. So far, Ashani's men had been relatively successful in taking out extremist elements at home and abroad. However, as those extremists' video went online minutes ago, Ashani realized that even thought he and his men gave their best efforts, apparently, it still wasn't enough.

Upon hearing what Ashani said, Dalia sighed. "Those extremists... first they murdered my husband and now they are dragging the country to a war with the Russians...Who the hell do they think they are?"

"Madam President, those men do not represent the people of Kamistan. They are simply lunatics..."

"I don't think Washington and Moscow will see it that way...They had already blamed us for the attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago. But nevertheless, we need to help the Americans find the Russian Foreign Minister before it's too late. Send what we have on extremists' activities to them "Dalia ordered. She thought by doing so, they could show that Kamistan does not condom the actions of those extremists. After Dalia and Ashani arrived at the door of meeting chamber, Dalia turned to Ashani. "By the way, Yusuf, I need you to do something for me..."

"Anything, Madam President."

"Get some people you trust and have them escort Kalya to the Al-Ghazi facility. It's the safest place in the country I can think of..." Dalia said. Al-Ghazi facility was originally a top secret underground nuclear research facility in Kamistan. Before IRK abandoned its nuclear ambition, the facility was the heart of IRK's nuclear weapon research program. Therefore, it was built and reinforced to withstand possibly every kind of bombardments, including bunker busters. Above the facility, there was a surface building that was heavily reinforced with super hard concrete, rebar, and loads of I-beams. Beneath the surface building, there were additional protection layers that were made of concretes, rebar, and more I-beams. The Kamistani engineers had claimed that even with bunker busters, the chance of bombs penetrating to the deepest subterranean level was almost to none. Therefore, Dalia thought it was the safest place in Kamistan in case the Russians decided to start dropping bombs on them. She already had lost her husband. She didn't want to lose her daughter.

"I'll get right on it." Ashani answered, and then he took out his cell phone and started dialing for his men. With the attack in Moscow and what was happening at the moment, he knew that he could not trust most of government agents or officials, since there could be a possibility that they were working with those extremists. Therefore, Ashani knew he had to keep the circle very small.

Although Dalia seemed calm at the moment, she was extremely worried about her daughter, and Kamistani people. Right now, the Russians forces were literally at their doorstep. She knew if the war broke out, Kamistani people will suffer. It will take decades, even longer, to recover from the devastation effects of war. Therefore, as Dalia continued walking toward the meeting chamber, she silently prayed that the Americans will find the Russian Foreign Minister soon...

**9:07:03**

**The White House Situation Room**

President Hayworth and his chief of the staff, Derek Watts, were now inside the situation room. After telling everyone inside the room to take a seat, President Hayworth and his chief of staff sat down in their usual seats at the table. President Hayworth then addressed the Secretary of Homeland Security, Tim Woods. "Tim, what do we know so far?"

"As many of you know from CTU's preliminary intelligence reports inside your briefing packets, the FBI field office in Los Angeles was attacked by an unknown group of hostiles with the purpose of extracting the Russian Foreign Minister, Seymon Lugansky. Unfortunately, those men succeeded and the Secretary of State was killed in process, possibly by crossfire. CTU is still working on determining identity of the group, but from their initial field reports, the men who took Minister Lugansky are most likely mercenaries working for someone else, possibly, extremist elements from IRK." Tim Woods briefed everyone in the situation room professionally, like countless times he had done in the past. He then pointed to the one of the flat screen TV on the wall, which promptly displayed the video of armed IRK extremists holding the Russian Foreign Minister hostage. "This is quite evident because shortly after the attack, a group of IRK extremists sent out this live video feed on the internet, stating that they will execute Minister Lugansky if Russians don't withdraw their forces around the IRK border."

"Do we have any lead on where the Russian Foreign Minister is being held?" President Hayworth asked.

"Right now CTU is doing everything they can to locate the Russian Foreign Minister. However, their process was hindered because their drone has been shot down by the hostile force that attacked the FBI field office earlier. Fortunately, the IRK intelligence is currently in process of sending us what they have on the extremist elements in their country. We should be able to ID of those men who took the Russian Foreign Minister soon." Tim Woods said.

"Excuse me, Tim." Derek butted in as soon as Tim finished answering President Hayworth's question. "Can we really trust the IRK intelligence, or the Dalia Hassan's administration for that matter? For what we know, they could be funding those extremists and sending us false report to throw us off..."

"Mr. Watts, there's no indication that Dalia Hassan's administration is involved in the attacks. However, we won't rule out the possibility that someone in her administration is involved." Tim answered.

"What's the worst case scenario if we don't find Minister Lugansky in time? Will the Russians invade Kamistan?" President Hayworth asked. He wanted to know what the worst possible outcome was so that he could prepare for it. He still remembered what happened to President Omar Hassan 18 months ago, and that served as a bloody reminder that thing won't often turn out as one wants.

"Most likely, Yes." General Vincent stated. "Ever since the attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago, the Russians had increased their military presence around the IRK border. Aside from their ground and naval assets, they have deployed transport planes, long range bombers, and additional fighter squadrons to their air bases near the area. In addition to those air assets, our intelligence also indicates that the Russians have deployed their SS-21 ballistic missiles in the theater as well. They can easily initiate first strike on IRK installations and cities within matter of minutes."

"Jesus..." President Hayworth couldn't help but to mutter that upon hearing what General Vincent said.

"Sir, I think we better start to distance ourselves from IRK, particularly, Dalia Hassan's regime..." Derek suggested. "If the situation with Minister Lugansky worsens, the Russians and the rest of the world are gonna think Dalia Hassan's government is full of extremists. Besides, IRK is not exactly our friend in the past..."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there...If we get there." President Hayworth said to Derek, and then he turned to everyone at the table. "Let's just hope CTU finds the Minister Lugansky before the deadline. Also, tell CTU that I'll grant them whatever resource they need in order to locate those men and Minister Lugansky..."

**9:13:37**

After seeing that IRK extremists' internet broadcast on the giant display in CTU's bullpen, CTU director Devlin immediately ordered his analysts to try to determine the location of where the Russian Foreign Minister was being held by analysing the video. _Damn it...the situation is escalating..._ He thought that internet broadcast clearly indicated the IRK extremists were he one behind the attack on the FBI field office. He also figured those mercenaries were probably hired by those extremists to extract the Russian Foreign Minister from the FBI field office, and also, to send a message to United State by shooting up the FBI field office. Devlin couldn't help but to notice that the whole internet broadcast was quite similar to the one where the late IRK President, Omar Hassan, was brutally murdered 18 months ago. However, since those terrorists were making demands by using the Russian Foreign Minister as a bargaining chip, which meant they had the incentive to keep the Russian Foreign Minister alive for the time being.

"Can you determine the location from the image analysis?" Devlin asked.

"The room they are in has no windows and it's filled with artificial lighting..." One of CTU analysts, Oscar Montez, answered. "We can't determine whether they are in a basement or a concealed room..."

_Damn it... _Devlin sighed, and then he turned to his drone pilot. "Is the military's drone airborne yet?" Ever since the CTU drone was shot down, Devlin had been requesting the Pentagon to grant them the authorization to use one of the military's UAVs. Just shortly after the terrorists' broadcast hit the internet, he received a call from a General named Rawlins. The general said he was under order from Pentagon to provide aerial surveillance for CTU using the drones under his command. Devlin thought it was a lot faster than he expected, but he was not complaining. _Probably because the White House really want the crisis to be resolved as quickly as possible..._

"General Rawlins said the drone is already airborne. However, they are also saying their system configuration is different than ours so they need us to grant them additional authorizations so they can configure some aspects of our system in order to stream the video feed from their end..." The drone pilot reported.

"Grant them whatever authorizations they need and get video feed working now. We need the aerial surveillance ASAP." Devlin said, and then he decided to contact his director of field ops, Evan Seaver. He thought since CTU could not identify those men or the location of where Minister Lugansky was being held through the video feed, their only lead right now was those mercenaries who attacked the FBI field office. Devlin figured if they could find out who those mercenaries were, they might have a chance of finding the Russian Foreign Minister. Therefore, he needed Seaver to find clues at the scene, and also, talked to the witnesses who survived the attack.

"Evan, have you saw the news?"

"Yeah, has CTU found out where the Russian Foreign Minister is being held?"

"We're still working on it." Devlin said. "Right now, aside from the fact that those men are Kamistani extremists, we don't have any additional lead. We need to work on it from another angle..."

"Those mercs who attacked the FBI field office..." Seaver guessed.

"Exactly, it's evident that those guys are working with those IRK extremists, so they probably know where they are holding Minister Lugansky. That's why I need you to question the two suspects in our custody. They saw what went down at the FBI field office and they might have some information that might help us find out who and where those mercenaries are."

"You mean Jack Bauer and Renee Walker?"

"Yes. Get back to me when you finished."

"Copy that. Oh by the way, my men also have detained Chloe O'Brian. We found her outside of the FBI field office. She claimed to have evidence that proves Jack wasn't the shooter in IRK Foreign Minister's assassination this morning... Do you want me to question her too?"

"Just hold her for the time being. The Russian Foreign Minister is our priority. After that, we'll sort out this Jack Bauer mess."

After talking with Devlin, Seaver began walking toward the office where CTU was holding Jack Bauer and Renee Walker. Seaver had read Bauer's files. The files had listed a lot of good things Bauer had done for the country, but the files also contained lists of questionable incidents, particular, the uses of enhanced interrogations as well. Frankly, Seaver had a lot of respects for Jack, because the man had stopped many terrorist attacks in the past. _It's really a shame that he suffered a mental breakdown and then went on a murdering rampage 18 months ago..._Seaver thought. Regardless of his respects for Jack, what Jack did 18 months ago was still inexcusable. Therefore, at the moment, he needed to put his respect for Jack Bauer aside and treat him like a suspect.

At the same time, inside the office where they were being held, both Jack and Renee were still in handcuffs. Renee continued resting her head on Jack's shoulder. Although she had stopped crying and calmed down a bit, she still felt quite defeated. With Kirilenko dead and the FBI servers destroyed, there was no way she could expose the truth about the attack in Moscow and help Jack get out of the troubles he was in. She also thought about Jack's family. Jack was supposed to be on a plane to California to meet them on that day, but because of her, he was now a wanted fugitive. Upon thinking that, Renee felt a wave of despair and guilt swoop across her.

At the same time, Jack noticed Renee's somber expression. He hated to see her in such broken state. He really hoped that he could be with her and try to heal her emotional wounds, but considering the situation they had found themselves in, Jack knew it was impossible. US Marshals were probably on their way to pick up Renee and CTU was probably gonna handed him over to the Russians soon. Upon thinking about the Russians, all of the sudden, a disturbing thought hit him. _Someone, possibly Kirilenko's associates, hired those mercenaries to clean up the loose ends. That's probably why they destroyed the servers and killed Kirilenko. Now the question is: is Renee one of those loose ends? Are they also after Renee?_ The more Jack thought about it the more worried he became. He feared that Kirilenko might have told his friends back in Russia about Renee, and they might be after her, like Novakovich and his goon Pavel Tokerav went after her 18 months ago. _Not a chance in hell those bastards are gonna lay their hands on her... _Jack thought thought he is not gonna fail Renee this time around. As Jack continued to ponder his thoughts, the office door opened and a young CTU agent walked into the office.

"Mr. Bauer, Ms. Walker." Seaver said politely as he pulled up a chair and sat across both Jack and Renee. "I'm Evan Seaver, CTU's director of field ops. I'd like to ask both of you some questions regarding the attack that happened earlier..."

"Agent Seaver, those men are mercenaries. They attacked the FBI field office because they wanted to erase every trace of evidence that could expose the truth behind the nerve gas attack in Moscow subway 3 weeks ago." Jack explained to the young CTU agent.

"Mr. Bauer, what do you mean the truth behind the nerve gas attack in Moscow? It was the work of Kamistani operatives. The Russian authority found their bodies in the scene of the attack..." Seaver said to Jack as he recalled what he had seen in the news.

Upon hearing the Jack and the young CTU agent's voices, Renee quickly snapped out of her guilt trip and joined the discussion. "Agent Seaver, an ex-GRU Colonel named Nicholai Kirilenko orchestrated that attack in Moscow, not IRK operatives. The FBI had him in custody, but those mercenaries killed him and destroyed the servers containing the evidences that prove the attack was his doing..." Renee said somberly.

"You need to start looking into Kirilenko. His associates are probably the one who hired those mercenaries to clean up the loose ends." Jack said.

"I'm sorry guys, but that doesn't make any sense. If the Russians were behind the attack, then why did they grab their Foreign Minister and hand him over to the IRK extremists?" Seaver said. Just before Jack and Renee could mutter a 'What', Seaver took out his smart phone and played the IRK extremists' internet broadcast footage.

Upon seeing the footage of Russian Foreign Minister being held hostage by masked IRK terrorists, Jack and Renee were shocked. As the video continued to play, Jack remembered that Agent Hoffman was the one who tried to escort the Russian Foreign Minister to safety. "There's an FBI agent who was with the Russian Foreign Minister at the time... Stan Hoffman ...He's the Special Agent in Charge..." Jack told Seaver. He thought if the Russian Foreign Minister was now at the hands of those terrorists, then there were only two possibilities. Either Hoffman was working with those mercenaries or he was killed by them. Either way, it was not good.

"He's dead. We found his body on the first floor, along with the body of Minister Lugansky's security detail." Seaver said.

Both Jack and Renee were horrified by the turn of event. While Renee was stunned by what she heard, Jack, on the other hand, remembered what Polyakov told him about Kirilenko's objectives. He quickly realized that the whole situation was not just a cover-up. It was something more terrifying. "Agent Seaver, Kirilenko wanted to initiate a war between Russian and IRK so he could profit from it. That why he orchestrated the attack in Moscow and pinned it on IRK. Base on what you just showed me, I believe Kirilenko's associates are continuing what Kirilenko started. They want the war to happen. That's why they had those mercenaries kidnapped the Foreign Minister and having him delivered to those IRK extremists so they can push both countries into the brink of war..." Jack theorized.

"Okay..." Seaver took a minute to process what Jack had said. It actually sounded like one of those wacky conspiracy theories on the internet. However, Seaver's instinct told him that Jack and Renee were telling the truth. Therefore, he decided to inquire further. "How do guys know all of this?"

After hearing that, Renee knew that was her cue to come forward as a witness. However, just before she could speak, Jack spoke first. "A man named Valentin Polyakov told me. He was Kirilenko's colleague when Kirilenko was a GRU officer..." Jack decided to not to tell CTU that Renee had obtained the knowledge of the type of VX nerve agent which Kirilenko secretly manufactured in Kazakhstan during her undercover operation in Laitanan's gang. He feared that Renee's life will be in jeopardy again if the people who hired those mercenaries managed to find out about Renee and what she knew. Therefore, by keeping Renee out of CTU's investigation, she will be safer. Besides, Jack thought by giving CTU Polyakov, CTU should have enough to look into the Kirilenko angle.

"Okay...I'm gonna run those names to see if anything pops up. Thanks for your help, Mr. Bauer, Ms. Walker." Seaver said politely, and then he walked out of the office. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that Jack was withholding something from him. After exiting the office, Seaver took a mental note to remind him to look into this matter later.

As soon as the young CTU agent exited the office, Renee turned to Jack and protested. "Why didn't you tell him that I can prove Kirilenko was involved? And who is Valentin Polyakov?"

"I got the name from one of Kirilenko's men. He was an ex-GRU officer who investigated Kirilenko's suspicious financial activities and discovered his secret facility in Kazakhstan..." Jack answered.

"So where is he now?"

"He's dead. Kirilenko's men killed him..." Jack stated. Although Polyakov killed himself before Kirilenko's men could finish him off, Jack still attribute Polyakov's death to Kirilenko's goons. Suddenly, Jack's face turned even more serious. "Renee, listen to me, if the people who hired those mercenaries are in league with Kirilenko, they will try to eliminate every loose end, and that include you because of what you know. We need to get you to some place safe..."

"But Jack, I need to come forward with what I know about Kirilenko and his operation in Kazakhstan. A war between Russia and IRK is looming and I can't just sit by knowing that I can prevent it from happening..."

"Renee, I know you are trying to help, but right now the less people knew about what you've known the safer you will be...Besides, I already gave CTU enough information to point them to direction of Kirilenko and his associates. They should be able t find more evidence and expose the conspiracy in process." Jack said. He couldn't let Renee being dragged into CTU's investigation. Jack still remembered what happened last time she was involved in CTU's investigation and what happened after. Those memories from 18 months ago still haunted him. He couldn't let the same thing happen to Renee again.

"But what if what you gave CTU is not enough? It's one dead man's word against another..." Renee countered. She knew what Jack was trying to do. Although she appreciate it, Renee knew she needed to let CTU knew what she could actually prove the Kirilenko was the one responsible for the attack in Moscow three weeks ago. She knew the consequences will be catastrophic if a war between Russia and IRK broke out.

"Damn it, Renee, it's not up for discussion!" Jack raised his voice a slightly. _Why doesn't she ever listen to me? _Jack thought angrily. He knew she wasn't gonna like it, but Jack had made up his mind. He will do everything in his power to ensure Renee's safety, whether she likes it or not.

_Damn it, Jack..._ Renee rolled her eyes slightly and sighed. She was a bit taken back by Jack's last statement. She thought after they had been through, he still treated her like an invalid. She wasn't some damsel in distress who needs a knight in shining armor. She could take care herself._ Why couldn't he see that? _Renee thought angrily as she shifted her attention away from Jack.

Meanwhile, Seaver was on the phone with Devlin. After hearing what Seaver said about Jack's statements, Devlin had trouble buying Jack's theory. In fact, he didn't believe what Jack had told Seaver. "Evan, I think Bauer is playing you..." Devlin stated.

"Why is that, sir?"

"Bauer is a delusional man with nothing to lose, and I think he still wants to continue his personal vendetta against the Russia government. What he had told you is probably an elaborate lie to trick us into helping him in his personal war. Besides, you saw the video, it's pretty evident that IRK operatives hired those mercs to attack the FBI field office so they could get their hands on the Russian Foreign Minister. I mean, why would the Russians have their own Foreign Minister kidnapped and delivered to the hands of those IRK operatives? It's not in their interest to do so. Besides, even if the hard liners want to initiate a war with IRK, they wouldn't go as far as conducting a terrorist attack against their countrymen." Devlin explained.

"But sir, I think he might be telling the truth... He seemed pretty convinced of what he told me." Seaver's instinct told him that both Jack and Renee might be on to something. "What about the names he mentioned?"

"Oscar already ran them. Nicholai Kirilenko is actually part of the Russian delegation. Although there were some allegations that he was involved in arm trafficking, nothing really panned out. From what we have on him, he doesn't really fit the profile of a megalomaniac who is willing to attack his own country to further his personal interest. And as for Valentin Polyakov, he was actually a mob boss of an L.A. based Russian crime syndicate. Nothing in his record says he was ex-Russian military intelligence. Granted, both of these men are shady characters, but nothing indicates they were involved in, or had ties to, any terrorist organization. Bauer probably ran into them or heard of them while on the run. Because of his vendetta against the Russians, he probably made up some non-existing connections between those two men and the incident in Moscow 3 weeks ago to further justify his revenge fantasy..." Devlin stated. He then sensed Seaver still had some doubt on what he said. "Evan, Jack Bauer is a very good at deceiving people. It's part of his trainings..."

"Okay, so what about Walker? Her statements seem to be collaborating with what Jack said and she also seems to be pretty certain of what she told me..." Seaver asked.

"Well, she worked with Bauer in the past, so it's no surprise that she's collaborating Bauer's story."

Seaver thought about what his boss said. He did remember the way Jack looked at Renee during his interview with them. He thought their relationship was definitely more than professional. Therefore, Seaver started to consider the possibility that his boss right about Renee lying to collaborate Jack's story. However, he also thought Renee Walker didn't look like the deceitful type.

"Have you looked into her FBI records? What else can you tell me about her?"

"Kathy is sending you a copy of her FBI records now. From her records, it seems after she resigned from the FBI, the records concerning the circumstance of her resignation were sealed. That is basically the bureaucrat-speak meaning that she was fired for questionable conducts..." The moment he noticed Renee's dismissal in her records, a giant red flag was raised inside Devlin's mind. "It sounds like FBI is covering their asses. Whatever she did that got her fired it must be really bad. Therefore, I don't trust her..."

"Sir, don't you think we should at least take look into the Russian angle? We don't have any solid lead at the moment..."

"Evan, right now every government agency is working on this. I'm sure we'll have something soon. Just continue processing the scene for more evidence. Once you finished, have both suspects transferred back to CTU. Oscar got through to the US Marshals' office and they confirmed Walker is indeed an FBI witness in WITSEC. They probably want to pick her up. As for Jack, we will continue to hold him in our custody until we heard otherwise." Devlin ordered. He thought it was strange that US Marshals did not disclose the specific on the Renee Walker's case, but he figured it must have something to do with her dismissal from FBI. Devlin then took a mental note to remind him to look into this matter once the crisis was resolved.

"Copy that." Seaver answered reluctantly. Although he was now a bit unsure of both Jack and Renee's statements, he still thought it wouldn't hurt to at least look into the Kirilenko angle first to see if anything pans out. However, orders were orders. He just hoped CTU got some other leads that could lead them to the Russian Foreign Minister soon.

**9:22:08**

Inside the West Wing's waiting room, Ethan Kanin couldn't help but to feel nostalgic. This was actually his first time inside the White House since President Taylor's shocking resignation. He still remembered the time he had spent inside the West Wing during his tenure as President Taylor's chief of staff, and later, secretary of the state. He was very fond of those memories. There were ups and downs, but Ethan never regretted serving under President Taylor. However, he did regret one thing: suggesting President Taylor to bring in Charles Logan to help her getting the Russians back to the table for that failed peace treaty. He couldn't believe Logan managed to manipulate Allison into covering up the Russians' involvement in that day's events, particularly, the murder of President Omar Hassan. Ethan often wondered what the outcome will be if he hadn't resigned and continued to urge Allison to back out of the treaty and pursue the truth. Fortunately, Allison was smart enough to recognize her own mistake in the end, but the damage had been already done. Worst of all, the Russian government somehow managed to create complete deniability on their end by eliminating every trace of their involvements. Upon thinking about the aftermath of that terrible day, Ethan simply sighed. As he tried to clear his thoughts, a Secret Service agent entered the room. He recognized the Secret Service agent. Because he spent a lot of his time in the White House during his political career, Ethan and some of the Secret Service agents were on the first name basis.

"Mr. Kanin, President Hayworth would like you to see him now." Agent Joyce said in a polite and professional tone.

Ethan acknowledged what the Secret Service agent said and followed him. As they walked toward the Oval Office, Ethan tried to make small talk with the Secret Service agent. "Agent Joyce, how's your son, Tommy?"

"He's doing great. In fact, he just made the football team." Agent Joyce said proudly, as he couldn't help but to drop his over-serious expression and bust out a smile.

"That's good to hear." Ethan said sincerely.

After they arrived at the Oval office, Agent Joyce opened the side door and let Ethan in. Inside, President Hayworth and his chief of staff, Derek Watts, were already waiting for him.

"Ethan, it's good to see you." President Hayworth said in a friendly manner. "You remember my chief of staff, Derek Watts."

"Mitchell." Ethan replied politely, and then he gave Derek Watts a polite gesture nod. "Mr. Watts." Ethan definitely remembered Derek Watts. He was Hayworth's chief of staff when Hayworth was still Vice President. Although Derek was a sharp young man, Ethan often thought that Derek Watts had lost the sight of what's right and what's wrong because he had been playing the game of politics in Washington for far too long.

"Mr. Kanin." Derek also nodded back at Ethan politely. Despite his polite gesture, Derek thought Ethan Kanin had some sort of hidden agenda here. _Maybe the old fart wants to make a comeback by helping us resolve this crisis, or maybe he is here to sabotage President Hayworth's efforts in repairing Russian-American relationship in order to make his close friend, that bitch Allison Taylor, looks good. _Derek worried.

"How's Allison doing?" President Hayworth asked like he was making small talks. In truth, he didn't really care about the well-being of his predecessor, especially after that bitch left him a huge diplomatic mess to clean up.

"She's doing a lot better, for all things considered." Ethan said as he took a seat. Despite the fact that the UN's investigatory body concluded that there was no signs of Russian government's involvement in that day's events, Allison Taylor still had to face charges of obstruction of justice from the Attorney General. As a result, she was placed under house arrest. The former President accepted the sentence willingly as her guilt over her decisions during the course of that fateful day continued to haunt her. Ethan had visited her frequently since her house arrest. Although Allison Taylor seemed to be trying to overcome her guilt, Ethan worried that she might be slipping into depression, especially after hearing the recent development on the UN's investigation.

"That's good to hear..." President Hayworth stated as he pretended to give a damn about his predecessor, and then he shifted the topic to the urgent business at the hand. "Anyway, as you know, we got a very serious international incident on our hands. You probably saw those IRK terrorists' internet broadcast already..."

"Yes, it's all over the news..." Ethan said. He had followed the development of the crisis between Russian and IRK closely through the news outlets, and he knew if those terrorists somehow managed to kill the Russian foreign minister, the situation could lead to a full scale war between Russia and IRK since areas around the IRK border was already a flashpoint after the attack in Moscow that occurred 3 weeks ago. "How the hell did those extremists get their hands on Minister Lugansky?"

"Minister Lugansky was meeting Secretary Ross at the FBI's Los Angeles field office. A group of mercenaries attacked the field office. Secretary Ross was killed during the assault, along with many FBI agents. Those mercenaries managed to extract Minister Lugansky and handed him to those IRK extremists." Derek briefed Ethan.

"Dear God..." Ethan was absolutely horrified by what President Hayworth's chief of staff had told him. This was actually a lot worse than he initially thought. However, one thing confused him. "Why was Minister Lugansky meeting Secretary Ross inside an FBI field office?"

"Well, about 3 hours ago, the FBI had captured Jack Bauer. The State Department decided to hand him over to the Russians in exchange for the possibility of having their forces withdrawn from the IRK border. Minister Lugansky was at the FBI field office, along with Secretary Ross, to oversee the custody transfer..." Derek explained.

Ethan was stunned by the news about Jack Bauer's capture. _What the hell is he doing in Los Angeles? Shouldn't he be laying low at somewhere where we and the Russians can't find him? _Allison actually told him about Jack and why he did what he did during the course of that day. To this date, the former President still regretted that why didn't she listen to Jack at that time. Although Ethan greatly sympathized with Jack's situation, he really couldn't do much for him other than wishing him luck, considering he did murder the late Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Novakovich and his security details in cold blood. However, he did, in fact, help Jack's friend, Chloe O'Brian, by having her prison sentence reduced. He thought it was also his way of paying Allison's penance for the pain she had unintentionally caused for Jack.

"Let me get straight to the point, Ethan. I need your help. Right now, we are doing everything we can to locate Minister Lugansky. However, it's obvious that the Russians are not gonna be happy about it. The abduction happened on the US soil, so naturally, the Russians will also be blaming us for what happened. Therefore, I need you to try to smooth things over with the Russians, like talk to some of the key players inside Suvarov's circles. You got them to the table in the peace treaty negotiation. They trust you, Ethan. I couldn't think of anyone who was more suitable to handle this crisis..." President Hayworth said. He did think of someone more suitable, but unfortunately, that someone was still currently brain dead.

Ethan knew that ever since the aftermath of that peace treaty, the Russia's relationship with both US and IRK had degraded considerably, and the recent terrorist attack in Moscow had raised tension between Russia and IRK to an all time high. President Hayworth was right, despite the fact it was the IRK extremists who kidnapped the Russian Foreign Minister, it happened on US soil so the Russians were gonna direct some of their angers at US as well. Because of that, no amount of diplomatic sweet talks were gonna put Russians at ease. Therefore, Ethan thought the only thing they could do was finding Minister Lugansky before it was too late. Suddenly, an idea came to him. It was a risky one but it will kill two birds with one stone...

"Mitchell, the Russians want their Foreign Minister back. Try to sweet talk them will only antagonizing them further because they will think we are patronizing them. Therefore, we need to utilize every resource at our disposal..." Ethan said.

"Mr. Kanin, with all due respect, we've already utilized every resource at our disposal. CTU and other government agencies have been actively searching for those kidnappers and Minister Lugansky the second after the live broadcast hit the internet..." Derek pointed out the obvious.

"Actually, you haven't. Mitchell, I'm suggesting we put Jack Bauer in play... With him on board the chance of us locating Minister Lugansky will improve." Ethan stated confidently.

"What? Are you completely out your mind?" Derek said in complete surprise and shock. He looked at the old man in front of him as if he was suffering some sort of brain damage. "Jack Bauer is a criminal and you want him to help us? Do I need to remind you that he murdered their previous Foreign Minister? Besides, he got nothing to gain by helping us and the Russians. In fact, he is probably thinking about killing every Russian he sees in order to fulfill his delusional revenge fantasy..."

"I'm gonna have to agree with Derek on this one, Ethan." President Hayworth said right after Derek made his argument. "Considering what he did 18 months ago, even if we gave him immunity, not only it will further damage our relationship with the Russians, they will be still coming after him until he bites the dust..."

"What if we convince the Russians to drop their vendetta against Jack Bauer?" Ethan suggested. That way, Jack could get out of the trouble he was in. Ethan knew convincing the Russians to drop their vendetta will not be an easy task. After all, Jack did kill their late Foreign Minister. Ethan knew Novakovich was no boy scout and he was one of the conspirators responsible for that day's events, but what Jack did to him was vigilantism at its worst. Upon thinking that, Ethan couldn't help but to feel some regrets. _I should have stay and continue to push Allison to make the right decision...Maybe if I did, Jack probably wouldn't take the matter into his own hands..._

After hearing Ethan's suggestion, Derek became even more shocked. _Is this old fart for real?_ Quickly, he argued. "Suvarov will never go for it...For God's sake Bauer tried to kill him 18 months ago!"

"Not if he really wants his current Foreign Minister back in one piece." Ethan countered.

As both Ethan and Derek continued arguing, President Hayworth simply listened. He knew Ethan was right. Finding Minister Lugansky was the only way that could smooth things over with the Russians, and having Jack Bauer helping CTU to do so will improve their chance of success drastically. Hayworth had read countless security briefings about Jack Bauer so he knew what Jack was capable of. However, getting Jack to help them was the tricky part, but Hayworth had an idea that could work.

"Alright, Ethan, talk to Jack Bauer. See if he is willing to assist CTU in locating Minister Lugansky. Meanwhile, I will talk to Suvarov to see if he will let bygones be bygones..." President Hayworth said. Before Derek could object, the President shot Derek a look signaling that he already made his decision and he stood by it. Although Derek didn't agree with President's decision, he decided not to push it.

"Thank you, Mr. President." Ethan said politely.

"I'll have Derek arrange a secure hard line for you." President Hayworth said to Ethan. Derek then led Ethan out of the Oval Office.

As he exiting the Oval Office, Ethan couldn't help but to get a feeling that something was off. He thought Hayworth's sudden change of heart regarding the decision to bringing Jack Bauer on board was a bit uncharacteristic of the man. _Maybe he understands the seriousness of the situation or maybe he has something else planned..._ Regardless of which possibility, Ethan knew he needed to be extra careful. He was no stranger to the game of Washington and international politics. He knew he needed to be on his A-game tonight, not only for his sake, but for Jack Bauer's and Minister Lugansky's sake as well...

**9:28:23**

After talking to the director of CTU's Los Angeles branch on the phone, Ethan was shocked and astonished to find out that Renee Walker, was very much alive. _Allison will definitely be happy to hear about this..._ he mused. He learned from Director Devlin that Renee was actually put into the witness protection program by the FBI, although Ethan still had a lot of questions concerning this matter, he knew those will have to wait because of the current crisis. As Ethan waited for the CTU field agent to bring the phone to Jack and Renee, he wondered will Jack still blame Allison for try to cover up Russian government's involvement in that day's events with Charles Logan, after knowing Renee is still alive?

While still sitting inside the office, Jack continued to worry about Renee's safety. Truth to be told, despite Renee was going into witness protection again, Jack did not think the program was safe for Renee, mainly because this morning, Kirilenko's goons were able to track her down and tried to have her killed. Therefore, he did not completely trust either US Marshals or CTU when it came to Renee's safety. However, knowing that he was to be handed to the Russians for the crime he committed 18 months ago, Jack knew that he couldn't be by her side to ensure her safety. _Damn it..._Jack cursed in his mind. He thought about busting both him and Renee out of CTU's custody so he could protect her the way he wanted. However, if he did that, Renee will also be considered a fugitive and both of them will have to be on the run for the rest of their lives. Jack thought he couldn't do that to her, not after what she had been through. He took a look at Renee again. Apparently, she was still a bit angry at him. Although she appreciated Jack's intention, Renee hated being treated like a damsel in distress, especially when there was something she could contribute in the time of crisis. She was tired of being treated like an invalid. Jack was aware of that. He knew Renee was a capable agent, but he simply couldn't lose her again. Just as Jack was about to apologize to Renee for being so hard on her earlier, the office door opened and Agent Seaver enter the room again. He then uncuffed both Renee and Jack.

"Mr. Bauer, Ms. Walker, there's someone who wants to talk to you. " Seaver said. He then put a cell phone on a table nearby and put it on speaker.

"Agent Seaver, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to them in private." Ethan voice emitted through the phone's speaker, leaving both Jack and Renee surprised.

"Yes, sir." Seaver nodded, and then he exited the office. However, Seaver still kept a watchful eye on both suspects through the office's glass wall.

"Mr. Kanin..." Jack had heard Ethan Kanin resigned during the course of that day. Although it was publicly stated that he resigned due to health reason, Jack knew that the real reason behind Ethan Kanin's resignation was that conniving bastard Charles Logan. "I thought you already resigned..."

"President Hayworth has asked me to help him with the crisis. Jack, as you might have heard, the Russian Foreign Minister, Seymon Lugansky, had been kidnapped by IRK extremists and they have threatened to execute him if the Russians don't withdraw their forces around the IRK border. We need your help recovering Minister Lugansky before the terrorists execute him..."

"Mr. Kanin, I'm aware of the situation. However, I don't think I can be much of help. I already gave CTU what I know about the situation..." Jack stated. Truth to be told, right now, he cared more about Renee's safety than the abduction of Russian Foreign Minister. However, very deep down, he wanted to help. He knew the consequence will be catastrophic if those IRK extremists manage to execute the Russian Foreign Minister live on the internet video feed. It could lead to an all out war between Russia and IRK, which was what exactly the conspirators behind those mercenaries wanted. But if he agreed to do so, Renee will probably be drag into the investigation due to what she had knew, and he could not let that happened.

Ethan knew Jack would refuse to help, but he knew the only possible way for Jack to get out of his current predicament was to help the Russians recover their Foreign Minister. Therefore, after sensing Jack's hesitation over the phone, Ethan sated. "Jack, what if I told you that the Russians are willing to drop the charges against you if you rescue the Russian Foreign Minister? I've already asked President Hayworth to talk to President Suvarov..." He hoped Jack would agree to it, not only for the sake of Russian Foreign Minister, but for himself as well.

After hearing what Ethan Kanin said, Renee's suddenly had her hopes up. She was happy to hear that there was a legitimate way for Jack to get out the trouble he was in. However, she also understood that if Jack agreed to it, he was gonna be putting his life on the line again. Renee recalled that night at the docks in New York, where Jack almost got killed by those IRK radicals. She didn't want Jack to be in that kind of situation again. She wished there was another way to get Jack off the hook without him risking his life, but right now, there wasn't...

At the same time, Jack also thought about what Ethan said. He figured Ethan probably asked President Hayworth to talk to the Russians on his behalf. Jack appreciated the gesture. However, he didn't really care what happened to him. He cared more about Renee's safety. Jack thought if he helped CTU locate the Russian Foreign Minister, he and CTU could try to find out the people behind those mercenaries in process. If he and CTU managed to do that, Renee will be safe. Therefore, Jack decided that he will help CTU. "Mr. Kanin. I'll help CTU's effort in recovering Minister Lugansky..." Jack said. He was gonna ask Ethan to personally ensure Renee's safety next, but before he could say what he want to say, Renee cut in.

"So will I..." Renee thought she couldn't just stand by the sideline while Jack risking his life. She wanted to help Jack regains what he had before that horrible day 18 months ago, whether Jack liked it or not.

_Damn it Renee..._ Upon hearing what Renee said, Jack shot her a disapproval look. _Why does she keep putting herself in harm's way?_ Jack was a bit annoyed. He understood that she wanted to help but it was too dangerous, especially when there was a possibility that those highly-trained mercenaries might be targeting her.

"Ms. Walker, after you have been through, are you sure that's wise?" Ethan asked.

"Sir, with all due respect, I'm tired of waiting on the sideline, while knowing that there is something I can do to help." Renee answered with absolute determination.

"Alright, I'll talk to Director Devlin. Just sit tight for the moment." Ethan said. He then hanged up and started calling Director Devlin.

After Ethan hanged up, Jack turned his attention Renee. "Renee what are you doing?"

"Look, Jack, I'm coming with you whether you like it or not. We're not having this discussion again..." Renee said to Jack.

Jack could sense Renee's determination and he knew there was no way to stop her from tagging alone with him. _Why is she so damn stubborn?_ _Why couldn't she see that I'm trying to protect her?_ Jack was slightly annoyed. Despite he strongly disagreed with Renee's choice with every fiber of his instincts, Jack still respected her choice. Now with Renee involved in the operation, Jack needed to make sure nothing happened to her. He already lost her once, and by some miracle, found her again amidst the chaos of this day. He's not gonna lose her for the second time. _Not a chance in hell..._

**9:37:01**

In the abandoned hotel where IRK extremists were holding Minister Lugansky, Karim Zahir was checking out the multiple internet news streams on his laptop. So far, major news channels were still covering the story about the Russian Foreign Minsiter's abduction and the IRK terrorists' subsequent demands. He was glad he and his men got their message out to the world. He thought if the Russians wanted to invade his beloved country, they would have done so shortly after the attack in Moscow three weeks ago, without any warning. But instead, the Russians just sat their forces down around Kaminstan's border and shouted out empty threats. _Bunch of cowards..._Zahir thought. He figured the Russians were probably afraid to mount a costly invasion because they knew the people of Kamistan will make them pay dearly for that. Zahir remembered the battle of Abul, where the Kamistani army fought for long bloody days to secure the perimeter of the province. That battle had demonstrated the Kaminstani people's resolve to repel the invaders at all cost. The Russians knew that. Therefore, Zahir was confident that the Russian will cave in to their demands. If that happened, he will be hailed as the hero of Kamistan. Suddenly, one of his men interrupted his train of thoughts.

"Zahir, we've been monitoring the police frequencies. So far, the Americans still have no idea where we are. However, I must advice you that the longer we stay here the greater the risk that the Americans are gonna find us..." The young technician reported.

"Don't worry about it, Essam. By the time those Americans find this place, our operation will already be completed and we'll be long gone. Russians will meet our demand and withdraw their forces around our country's border..."

"But what if the Russians won't back down? What if they are willing to let their Foreign Minister die?" The young technician worried.

"They will back down. They may talk big but deep down, they are cowards..." Zahir told his young technician confidently. However, he still saw doubts in the young technician's face. "Essam, why do you think the Americans did not invade us when we announced that we had successfully enriched uranium? Because they are afraid of us. Their soldiers are afraid to set foot on our country's soil because they knew our men, women, and children will fight them and drive them out of the country. The Russians also feel the same way. Therefore, they will comply...Our cause is just and nothing will challenge that."

After hearing Zahir's assurance, the young technician's doubts disappeared. He knew Zahir will be the one that saved Kamistan from both the Russians and that corrupt bitch Dalia Hassan. "Alright, if anything comes up I'll let you know."

"See that you do." Zahir said. After the young man left, Zahir then began to resume his train of thoughts. He was still confident that the chance of the authorities finding this place was slim to none, but if the unthinkable happened and the Americans managed to corner them, Zahir knew he and his men will have to martyr themselves. He was ready for it. He knew his men were ready for it too. However, despite their willingness to martyr themselves for their cause, Zahir still hoped it would not come to that, especially when he thought the Russians will cave in to their demand.

**9:40:54**

Sitting inside his office in CTU, Devlin still could not believe the White House actually want Jack Bauer, a wanted criminal, to assist them locating Minister Lugansky. He simply did not trust Bauer. Devlin thought Jack Bauer was probably gonna point them to the wrong direction in order to further his personal vendetta, and CTU would be chasing ghosts instead saving the Russian Foreign Minister. _Damn it...if anything went wrong the higher ups are gonna blame it on me..._ As Devin trying to figure out of a way to keep Bauer on a short leash, his assistant called, informing him that a US Army General named Rawlins was on the line. Devlin thanked his assistant and then answered the phone.

"General Rawlins, first of all, I'd like to thank you for lending us the drone...What can I do for you?"

"Director Devlin, I think I might have something on the abduction of the Russian Foreign Minister...One of my special op teams operating in Iraq came across some intels after they raided a house in Mosul. We ID'ed some of the dead bodies and according to DIA (Defence Intelligence Agency), those guys are former IRK Quds force personnel..." General Rawlins cut directly to the chase.

"It's not unheard of for IRK Quds force to be operating inside Iraq. What does this had to do with the abduction?"

"Well, my men have also found an encrypted laptop. We managed to pull some of the files from it. The files contain dossiers such as Russian Foreign Minister's pictures, some financial data, and detailed information on Russian Foreign Minister's security details... "

_Oh my God...that is just the breakthrough CTU needs_... Devlin thought. "That seems like those IRK terrorists' playbook..."

"Yes, we are sending you the files we recovered from the laptop now. However, some of the files are encrypted, so you gonna have to crack those files from your end."

"It's not a problem. My analysts can handle it. Thank you for your help, General." Devlin said sincerely. He was glad a solid lead had popped up so CTU didn't have to chase down the Russian angle based on Jack Bauer's suggestion, which he thought was a waste of time. Most importantly, if the lead panned out, the situation could be resolved quickly.

Meanwhile, Jack and Renee were getting ready for CTU's field operation. After Ethan talked to both the CTU director and the head of field ops, CTU cleared both of them for field operation. As Jack put on his CTU-issued Kevlar vest, he couldn't stop worried about Renee. He knew that Renee was capable of handing herself. She was a seasoned FBI agent after all. However, they were heading into an unpredictable and dangerous situation where anything could go wrong in an instant. Jack feared that something bad would happen to her. Therefore, he knew he must do everything in his power to protect her. After he finished securing on his vest, he turned his attention to Renee.

"Renee, I need you to promise me that you will stay behind me if we are in field..."

"Okay..."Renee agreed. Although Renee was a bit taken back by what Jack said

"I need you to promise me."

"I promise." Renee said as she looked Jack right in his eyes. She knew that he was trying to keep her out of harm's way. She really appreciated it. However, she could handle herself in the field, and she hoped Jack acknowledged that, too.

Just as Renee finished her sentence, Jack noticed Agent Seaver approaching them. Quickly, Jack turned to Seaver. "Agent Seaver, we need to take a deeper look at Kirilenko's operation here in US, maybe we can find something that will lead us to those IRK extremist and the Russian Foreign Minister..."

"Well, we might have a more actionable lead on where Minister Lugansky is being held. A special ops team operating in Mosul found a laptop in one of IRK operatives' hideouts there. Some of the files inside the laptop contain detailed information on Minister Lugansky's security details. We think we might have found those extremists' playbook. CTU already had the laptop contents and is currently in process of decrypting the files..." Seaver reported.

"How long will that take?" Renee asked, hoping the decryption process wouldn't take long.

"It could take a while...our analyst said they haven't seen this type of encryption before..."

"I know someone who might be able to speed this up. I need to make a call to Chloe O'Brian..." Jack said. Despite the fact he wanted to look deeper into Kirilenko and his associates, he knew the lead Agent Seaver just told him was more concrete. Therefore, with the life of Russian Foreign Minister at stake, Jack decided to drop the Kirilenko angle for and focus more on this new lead at the moment. Plus, since Agent Seaver said the laptop contained information on Minister Lugansky's security details, Jack also thought that the laptop might contain information that could lead them to Kirilenko's associates.

"Chloe O'Brian?" Seaver said. "We're holding her downstairs. Ms. O'Brian is actually the one who called the police about the attack..."

Meanwhile, Chloe was sitting inside another office. After she managed to contact the police Chloe actually doubled back to the FBI field office, but by the time she got there, CTU had already arrived and set up a perimeter in the surrounding. Chloe tried to approach the CTU agents and explain that she had the evidence that could prove Jack's innocence in the IRK Foreign Minister's assassination this morning. However, the CTU agents at the scene detained her due to the fact that she was still being considered as a person of interest in the Jack Bauer's manhunt this morning. The evidence Chloe had was a video that showed the actual shooter, Viktor Lovonski, escaping from the scene of the assassination by posing as a CTU TAC team member. She thought that video should be enough to prove that Jack did not shoot the IRK Foreign Minister, but CTU didn't seem to be interested. It was the moment like this Chloe wished that she was still the acting director of CTU. Just as Chloe continued to sit there and pout, the door opened and Agent Seaver, who was holding a laptop, walked into the room.

"Look, how many times do I have to tell that you I have the evidence that can prove Jack's innocence in the assassination this morning?" Chloe stood up and protested strongly to the young CTU agent. However, just as she finished her sentence, she saw both Jack and Renee entered the room, following Agent Seaver. "Jack! Renee! Are you guys alright?" Chloe asked worriedly.

"We're fine, Chloe." Jack assured. He was glad that Chloe called the police, subsequently, alerted CTU about the attack. Jack thought if CTU hadn't been there, things could get a lot worse than it was. "We need your help...the Russian Foreign Minister had been kidnapped by the mercenaries who attacked the FBI field office, and they had handed him over to a group of IRK extremists who threaten to execute the him if the Russian forces do not withdraw from IRK borders...Ethan Kanin has asked us to help CTU recover the Russian Foreign Minister..."

"Ms. O'Brian, just minutes ago CTU received a credible intel from a special op team operating in Mosul. They found a laptop inside a hideout for IRK extremists and it contains information on Minister Lugansky's security detail along with some miscellaneous information on their activities. They already sent CTU all of the files inside the laptop but the files are heavily encrypted. I'm just wondering if you can help us with that..." Seaver explained the situation to Chloe as he opened the CTU issued laptop in front of her.

After hearing what Jack and the young CTU agent said, Chloe couldn't hide her shock even though she had been through nearly countless crises during her career as a CTU analyst. She knew there will be catastrophic implications if those IRK extremists managed to execute the Russian Foreign Minister. She also thought about the possibility that Ethan Kanin or the President probably convinced the Russians to stop coming after Jack under the stipulation that Jack recovers their Foreign Minister. _That is probably why Jack is helping CTU and the Russians._ Therefore, Chloe decided to help also. She took a look at the contents displayed on the laptop screen, typed some commands into the command prompt, and then concluded. "I've seen this type encryption software before, and I know there's a backdoor. Just give a minute..."

Both Jack and Seaver nodded. Seaver then called his boss again to give him another status update.

"Chloe, you said you have evidence that can prove Jack's innocence in the IRK Foreign Minister's assassination?" Renee asked while looking over Chloe's shoulders. She thought things were really looking really well for Jack. Chloe now had the evidence that could clear Jack from the assassination this morning and Russians were willing to drop their vendetta against him if he recovers their Foreign Minister. If all goes well, Jack could be free of his current troubles very soon. He could be united with his family again. Renee was happy about that. However, Renee then realized that after the crisis was resolved, she still had to go into witness protection because of what she knew about the Russian government's connection in that day's events. That meant she might not see Jack again. Renee's heart ached, but she took solace that Jack could return to the life he had before all of those terrible things happened 18 months ago.

"Yeah, I got a video of the actual shooter exiting the scene..." Although Chloe already knew Renee was alive from the voice analysis she did 4 hours earlier, seeing Renee alive in person still astonished her. She was really happy to see Renee, and by the looks of it, Renee seemed to be doing alright, considering what she went through 18 months ago. "Um...by the way...you look good..." She said awkwardly as she continued to work on the laptop.

"Thank you..." Renee replied sincerely, knowing that Chloe meant well. She couldn't help but to let out a small smile on her face. It was good to see Chloe again even if the circumstance was less than ideal.

**9:51:19**

**White House Video Conference Room**

President Hayworth and Derek Watts already took seats at the half oval conference table in front of three giant monitors with Cisco logo displayed on their screens. Despite their calm demeanour, both Hayworth and Watts were nervous as wrecks. The Russian Foreign Minister was kidnapped by IRK extremists on US soil and they haven't made any headway on finding him. In addition to that, he was going to ask the Russian President to drop the Russian's vendetta against Jack Bauer. With the Russian-American relationship already at the all time low, President Hayworth thought if they weren't careful, it could easily lead to a second Cold War. Therefore, he knew they needed to tread the situation very carefully. As President Hayworth went over what he's gonna say to the Russian President, his secretary informed him that the video uplink had started. Within seconds, the Russian President, Yuri Suvarov, two Russian Generals, and Suvarov's aide, showed up on the screens.

"President Suvarov, you know my chief of staff, Derek Watts. First, let me say that I wish we can talk under the better circumstances. We're doing everything in our effort to recover Minister Lugansky." President Hayworth reassured his Russian counterpart.

"Mr. Hayworth, forgive me for being blunt. Considering withdrawing our forces from the border of Islamic Republic of Kamistan serves the Kaminstani's interest as well as yours, one couldn't help but to wonder that the United State knowingly allows this disturbing incident to happen..." President Suvarov implied.

"Mr. Suvarov, I can assure you that is not the case. Our intelligence indicates the men who abducted Minister Lugansky belongs to a splinter group of IRK extremists, who have no affiliation with either us or the current IRK government. The current IRK administration is also helping us locating Minister Lugansky and bring those who are responsible for his abduction to justice..."

"With all due respect, Mr. Hayworth, considering what happened in Moscow 3 weeks ago, I found that very hard to believe that the current IRK regime, led by Dalia Hassan, haven't had a hand in this. Those men clearly have the backings of the current IRK regime. Otherwise, they wouldn't have both the guts and resources to snatch my Foreign Minister right under your roof...This cannot go unpunished. If those so men managed to execute Minister Lugansky on live internet feed, we will have no choice but to exercise our military options." Suvarov stated very strongly. Truth to be told, he did not want an open war with IRK, but he did not want to enrage the hardliners inside his government, whose powers had increased considerably in the past 18 months. He thought if the Americans can get Minister Lugansky back safely, he can use this incident as a leverage to dismantle Dalia Hassan's government, and further increase the Russian influence over IRK, without the unnecessary bloodshed.

"Mr. Suvarov, believe me when I say we're doing everything in our power to prevent those terrorists from executing Minister Lugansky. However, there's something else you should know... We're bringing Jack Bauer on board to help us locate and rescue Minister Lugansky." Although President Hayworth said it in a very calm and professional manner, he was actually quite nervous about his Russian counterpart's reaction.

Upon hearing what President Hayworth said, Suvarov showed a hint of anger on his face. "Mr. Hayworth, I have to say I did not expect such poor judgement on your part. Do I need to remind you that Jack Bauer killed my last Foreign Minister, and attempted to kill me 18 months ago? He is more likely to kill my current Foreign Minister as oppose to rescue him...Besides, didn't you and your Secretary of the State promise to hand him over to us hours ago?" Suvarov questioned. He managed to stay in a professional and firm manner even though he was quite angry after hearing what President Hayworth said.

President Hayworth expected such reaction from President Suvarov. "Mr. Suvarov, I understand your concerns, but what if you give him a reason to help us with the current situation. What if he believes that you are going to stop coming after him?" President Hayworth stated, empathising the 'believe' part of his sentence. He hoped his Russian counterpart catches his drift. Basically, President Hayworth had no intention of getting Suvarov and his men off Jack's back. But he also what Jack Bauer to help them recover the Russian Foreign Minister, therefore, President Hayworth decided to get President Suvarov to pretend that he will not come after Jack Bauer if he recovered the Russian Foreign Minister. In reality, Suvarov was still gonna come after Jack even if he rescued Minister Lugansky since the so-called agreement was nonbinding at best.

Being a career politician President Suvarov actually acknowledged what his American counterpart's doublespeak. He liked it, but there were still some concerns. "Let's say Jack Bauer agreed to offer his help, what prevents him from going rogue and try to take out my current Foreign Minister?" Suvarov asked. In truth, he was more concerned about Jack Bauer coming after him, even though he was safely behind the walls of Kremlin.

"He will be working closely with CTU. They're gonna monitor him, and have agents with him by his side through out of the operation. If Bauer tried to pull anything suspicious CTU will handle him..." President Hayworth stated.

"I hope you successfully recover Minister Lugansky...for both of our countries's sake." President Suvarov said ominously, and then he ended the teleconference.

After the giant monitors went black and the Cisco logos appeared in each screen, Derek turned to President Hayworth and said. "Sir... That was well played... You managed to get Bauer to work for us without pissing the Russians off..."

"You really don't think I'm gonna throw away all of our hard work for a criminal like Bauer?" President Hayworth said rhetorically while letting out a sly smirk.

"But what if Ethan Kanin found out that there wasn't an agreement?"

"Just tell him the Russians decided to keep the agreement very low profile since Suvarov don't want to offend the hardliners inside his government." President Hayworth didn't want Ethan to find out that he was gonna screw Jack over. Besides, if Jack Bauer managed to find out about that, he probably will blame Ethan Kanin anyway.

"Yes sir." Derek said gladly.

At the same time, Suvarov turned to his aide sitting beside him after the teleconference ended. "I don't share the Americans' confidence in finding Minister Lugansky. Have all of our intelligence assets Los Angeles activated. Tell them locating Minister Lugansky is their primary priority. After that, have them focus on Jack Bauer..." Suvarov thought that since Jack Bauer will be working with CTU, which meant his location will also be known to all of the Russian intelligence assets operating in Los Angeles. Rather than having the Americans handed Jack Bauer over to him, he decided to take the initiative and deal with the Jack Bauer problem himself after the current crisis is resolved.

**9:56:07**

"I think I have something..."After working on decrypting the files for a short while, Chloe managed to dig up something she thought that could possibly lead them to those IRK extremists. Quickly, Jack and Renee huddled around her. Seaver also joined them as well. "There are some documents containing financial information, like shell companies based in Dubai, Cyprus, and Cayman Islands. It seems those IRK extremists bought an abandoned hotel in L.A. through one of these shell companies, after the company that owned the hotel had gone under..." Chloe stated as she pulled up multiple documents on the laptop screen.

"People don't usually pay close attention to the building that was closed or abandoned. It's a perfect hiding spot for those guys..." Renee added.

Jack agreed with Renee. From his past experience, he knew that criminals often used closed or abandoned buildings for various illegal activities since generally people tended to avoid those mainly for safety reasons. "Agent Seaver, I think this place must be where those IRK extremists are holding Minister Lugansky." Jack said to Seaver, and then he turned to Chloe. "Chloe, do you have the address?"

"The hotel's address is 29 North Figueroa. I'm sending the files to CTU now." Chloe replied as she highlighted the address in one of the documents.

"Ms. O'Brian, are there any more places mentioned in those documents?" Seaver asked, wanting to make sure CTU didn't miss a single possible location on the IRK extremists and the Russian Foreign Minister.

"There are more, but none of those are in LA."

After hearing what Chloe said, Seaver quickly informed Devlin about the possible location of where Minister Lugansky was being held. "Sir, did you get that?"

"Yeah, the drone is heading to that area. Meanwhile, I'll tell LAPD to set up a perimeter couple blocks from there." Devlin quickly replied. "Evan, remember, these guys said they will execute Minister Lugansky if they spot any rescue attempt, we have to assume they'll make good on their threat." Devlin then remanded Seaver, as he did not want to repeat what happened with the late IRK President Omar Hassan 18 months ago. Devlin also thought about Chloe O'Brian. He knew she was one of Bauer's associates and he didn't completely trust her. However, she did manage to decrypt those files and find a possible location of those IRK terrorists's hideout. Devlin just hoped the address Chloe O'Brian dug up was the real and CTU will find the Russian Foreign Minister there.

"Roger that, sir, we're moving out." Seaver hanged up, and then he said to Chloe. "Ms. O'Brian, I'll have one of my agent take you back to CTU. I think you'll be more helpful there."

At the moment, Jack wished that Seaver would also have one of his agents to take Renee to CTU, where he knew she will be safe. But knowing Renee's stubbornness, Jack thought she probably would not listen to him anyway. As he watched Renee getting ready for the field operation, Jack couldn't help but to start worrying about her again. Suddenly, Seaver approached him and Renee.

"Can I talk to you guys for a second?"

"Yeah, sure." Jack said as he and Renee shifted their attention to Seaver.

"Look, I know you guys probably have run this type of operation countless times, but let's get one thing clear: This is my op. If you two try to pull any stunt that endangers my men in the field, I will not hesitate to put you down, do you guys understand?" Seaver warned both Jack and Renee in a firm but respectful manner. He had read both Jack Bauer and Renee Walker's files, and he had a lot of respects for both of them considering what they had sacrificed in the name of protecting this country. However, knowing some of Jack's past reputations, Seaver couldn't help but to get a bit worried. His men's safety was also part his priorities and he did not want someone to pull some sort of cowboy stunts that could potentially put his fellow agents in danger.

"Understood." Jack answered firmly. He knew young CTU agent was coming from, and if he was in Seaver's shoes, he would say the same thing. At the same time, Renee also nodded understandingly as she knew the young agent cared about his fellow agents and meant no disrespect. Right now, she just hoped this operation will go down as smoothly as possible and it won't turn out like what happened to the late IRK President Omar Hassan 18 months ago, since not only the Russian Foreign Minister's life depended on this operation, Jack's future was too...

Meanwhile, inside the abandoned hotel, Karim Zahir and two of his men were in the room where the Russian Foreign Minister was being held. Right now, the Foreign Minister was not bounded to a chair anymore. He was lying on the ground with his arms and legs tied. Zahir's men had also covered Minister Lugansky's head with a black hood so he could not identify his surroundings. Looking at the Russian Foreign Minister, Zahir suddenly had an idea. _Maybe cutting out one of the Russian's finger would show the world we mean business..._ He thought. Suddenly, one of his burner phones rang. Zahir actually had prepared a bunch of burner phones to ensure the Americans won't pick up his conversation or trace his location. He knew it was his benefactor calling him because his benefactor knew the numbers of his burn phones. Without any hesitation, he picked it up.

"Mr. Zahir, I'm afraid I have some bad news. I've learned that CTU now has your location. They are heading your way as we speak..." Kessler said over the phone. As usual, he was in his cold professional tone without showing any emotion.

"No...That's not possible...The Americans couldn't have learned this location!" Zahir replied. He refused to believe that his location had been compromised.

"I'm afraid they have now, Mr. Zahir. Have I ever given you a bad piece of intel before?" Kessler asked rhetorically, trying to convince Zahir that his intel was valid.

After hearing what Kessler said, Zahir panicked a bit. He now believed that CTU was coming their way. _How the hell did the Americans find out about this location? _He thought angrily. He also thought that maybe Kessler betrayed him, but if that was the case, why did he call to warn him about incoming CTU assault? Or maybe it was one of his men who betrayed him? Zahir was sure that the men who were with him here in L.A. were loyal to him, so that narrowed the possibility down to some of his allies in the Middle East. Nevertheless, he figured he will have to deal with them later. Via is walkie-talkie, Zahir quickly notified his men that the CTU agents were coming and they needed to be prepared. Without any questions, most of Zahir's men began heading to a make-shift armory to grab more weapons, arming themselves for the fight ahead...

**09:59:57...09:59:58...09:59:59...10:00:00**

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**Hope you guys enjoy the story. Please let me know what you think :)**

**Some Random Thoughts and Ramblings**

**Ethan Kanin: **Truth to be told, I wasn't confident about writing Ethan Kanin in the story because I kinda afraid I'll get his character wrong. As a result, I ended up watching some of Season 7 and 8 episodes for research purpose. I hope I got his character right in the story. In my opinion, Ethan is definitely an honorable man, but he is also quite cunning as well in a good way (as shown in 7x23). As for the White House drama goes, this is actually the first time I wrote the White House stuff in detail, I hope I did an acceptable job on that.

**Jack and Renee:** Considering the context of the story, it was expected to see Jack being super overprotective of Renee and Renee cared a great deal for Jack as well. As a result, conflict was bound to happen when one try to put his/her life on the line. To be honest, I wasn't confident about writing the conflict between Jack and Renee since I don't want Jack to be overbearing. I really hope I strike the right balance (fingers crossed!). In addition to that, I also hoped the way I got Renee back in action wasn't too forced.

**Battle of Abul: **This is actually referenced in 8x16 in the conversation between Samir Mehran and Omar Hassan. It was definitely an analog reference to the Iran-Iraq war during the 80's. However, since I'm treating the Islamic Republic of Kamistan as a fictitious country, so a lot of aspects, like the one, are kept vague like on the show. Besides, from the show's context, we really have no ideas who were the belligerents besides IRK military in that battle. Also, we don't even know which country (or countries) the IRK had fought war with.


	16. 10:00PM 11:00PM

**Author's Note:**

Whew... the past few weeks were really eventful, especially considering the disasters Japanese people are still facing after the quake and tsunami. As they tried to rebuild and continue to get the nuclear reactors under control, let's hope for Japan's speedy recovery and pray for those who are unfortunate as well.

Back to the story. Again, thank you for your kind reviews and supports. I can't express my gratitude enough for all readers taking their time to read my story and write the reviews, and I'm really glad that you guys are still enjoying the story. I'd like to apologize for being tardy with the update again. This chapter is another of one of those tough-to-write ones and I really hope the chapter won't disappoint.

**Additional Research Notes:**

**Vega Group: **A Russian Special Force unit which is the sister unit of the famous Alpha Group. Both have the reputation of being Russia's best special force Group, also known as "Vympel" (Pennant) or KGB Directorate "B" was responsible for sabotage, direct and covert actions, protection of Russian embassies etc.

**Krinkov assault rifle:** "Krinkov" was the nickname for short barrel variant of the infamous Kalashnikov assault rifle. It can be used to refer the short barrel variant of AK-47/AKM, or the AK-74U etc. A lot of Warsaw Pact countries actually modified their AK's design so it was no surprise for them to build short barrel variant of AK-47/AKM similar to the AK-74U since AK-74U's introduction. The name "Krinkov" is actually not Russian military's nickname given to these short barrel assault rifles. Russians actually refer AK-74U as "Ksyukha" (variation of a Russian woman name) or "okurok" (cigarette stub). In reality no one was sure how the name "Krinkov" came to be. One of the most possible explanation is that a group of journalist and photographers covering the Soviet-Afghan war came across a group of Mujahideens, who were using AK-74 and AK-74U that they somehow obtained from the Soviet army at the time, and those journalist or Mujahideen fighter gave the AK-74U the nickname "Krinkov". Again, please don't quote me on this. It's just a rumor.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P

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**This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.**

**Previously on 24**

After Karim Zahir and his band of IRK extremists broadcasted their demand stating they will execute the Russian Foreign Minister unless the Russians withdraw their forces around IRK border, CTU made finding the Russian Foreign Minister, Seymon Lugansky, their top most priority. The CTU Director, Nathan Devlin, thought since the mercenaries who attacked the FBI field office was probably working with those IRK extremists, they could probably find where the Russian Foreign Minister was being held by tracking down those mercenaries. Therefore, Devlin had his director of field ops, Evan Seaver, questioned Jack Bauer and Renee Walker, who were in the FBI field office at the time during the mercenaries' attack. After Seaver showed the IRK extremists' internet broadcast to Jack and Renee, Jack then told Seaver what he had speculated: A man named Nicholai Kirilenko was actually responsible for the terrorist attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago rather than IRK intelligence operatives, and Kirilenko's associates hired the mercenaries to eliminate Kirilenko and destroy evidence in order to cover up the truth and to make sure IRK was still blamed for the attack in Moscow. Jack also speculated Kirilenko's associates also had the mercenaries extract the Russian Foreign Minister for the IRK extremists in an effort to drive Russia and IRK to the brink of war. In order to protect Renee, Jack purposely omitted the detail about her having the knowledge that could prove Kirilenko was behind the attack in Moscow so that she didn't have to become a witness, hence putting herself in danger. Renee, on the other hand, was displeased with Jack's decision because she wanted to help. After he finished question both Jack and Renee, Seaver discussed both Jack and Renee's statements with Devlin. However, despite Seaver was convinced by their statements, his boss wasn't.

Meanwhile, Ethan Kanin arrived at the White House. After hearing about the current crisis from President Mitchell Hayworth and Hayworth's chief of the staff, Derek Watts, Ethan purposed bringing Jack Bauer onboard to help CTU recover the Russian Foreign Minister. In an effort to get Jack out of his current trouble, Ethan also suggested President Hayworth to try to convince the Russians to drop their vendetta against Jack in exchange of Jack recovering Minister Lugansky. However, although President Hayworth agreed to do so, he then decided to make Ethan think the Russians will let Jack of their hook but in reality they won't.

Back in the FBI field office, Jack, after speaking with Ethan, agreed to help CTU rescue the Minister Lugansky. Renee, wanting to make sure Jack was safe, also volunteered to help as well, much to Jack's dismay. Meanwhile, General Rawlins gave CTU a possible lead on the location of where Lugansky was being held in the form of some encrypted data one of his Special Forces teams recovered in Middle East. After recruiting Chloe O'Brian for her help, Chloe managed to crack the encryption on the data and discovered the location where the IRK extremists was holding the Russian Minister. After getting the location, Jack, Renee, Seaver, and CTU TAC team prepared to head over there. However, Erik Kessler, the mercenaries' leader, tipped off Zahir about the incoming CTU assault. As a result, Zahir ordered his men to prepare for CTU's arrival...

**The following takes place between 10:00PM and 11:00PM**

**10:01:47**

As his men continued to get ready for the incoming CTU assault, Karim Zahir also ordered two of his men to start transporting the Russian Foreign Minister. He planned to escape to another secure location with the Russian Foreign Minister so he could continue to hold him hostage. After he finished issuing orders, Zahir resumed his conversation with his benefactor, Erik Kessler. "We need to get to another secure location, can you help us?" He asked, hoping the man who had helped him throughout of his operation would help him for one more time.

"Mr. Zahir, CTU already has a drone over your position and they can track your every movement from the air. Even if my men disabled the drone, there's a chance that CTU can still track you through satellites. I'm afraid there is no way I can get you and your men to another safe location..." Kessler stated over the phone. "I think you might have to consider making your last stand there, Mr Zahir. Send your message out to the world before it's too late..."

After hearing what Kessler said, Zahir knew their situation was extremely dire. The Americans had them cornered and there was no way for them to escape. Zahir also thought about what Kessler said: making one last stand and sending his message out to the world. He figured his benefactor was right. Despite he and his men will probably die in a hail of gunfire, Zahir thought if they successfully broadcast the execution of the Russian Foreign Minister, they will send out a clear message to the world's leaders and government officials that said not every one of them is safe from Kaminstan's wrath. Zahir hoped by doing so, the world's leaders and high ranking government officials, particularly the ones in US and Russia, would think twice before they try to meddle the great Islamic Republic of Kamistan's affairs. Therefore, Zahir decided to prepare for the internet broadcast of Minister Lugansky's execution. "How far is the CTU assault team?" he asked.

"About 10 minutes away from your position." Kessler replied.

_That's not enough time to set up the broadcast! _Zahir thought angrily. The situation was now clearly spinning out of his control. He thought he and his men had a lot more time than that. Couldn't hide his panic and anger any longer, Zahir then began barking orders manically at his subordinates and telling them to hurry up with getting the equipments for broadcast ready. He was running out of time.

"I know there is not enough time for you to prepare your broadcast. That's why I suggest you to bring the fight to the CTU. I'm sending you CTU TAC team's real-time coordinate. You can have your men ambush them, buying the time you need for your broadcast." Kessler suggested after hearing Zahir's angry shouting. He understood the man was close to losing it and began acting irrationally. Therefore, Kessler gave him a workable tactical plan, hoping the IRK extremist would listen to his advice and completed the broadcast.

Zahir thought about what Kessler's suggestion. _It could work..._ If his men managed to take out the CTU TAC team before they arrives at the hotel, he would have more enough time to broadcast the execution of the Russian Foreign Minister on the live internet stream. "Thank you...my friend." Zahir thanked Kessler.

"Good luck, Mr. Zahir." Kessler replied in his usual cold and professional demeanour, and then he hanged up.

After Zahir hanged up, he shifted his attention to his laptop screen. Truth to his word, Kessler did send him the CTU TAC team`s real-time location. Zahir knew CTU was monitoring his location from the air so sending his men from the abandoned hotel to intercept CTU will ruin the element of surprise on their side. Fortunately, he got a cell positioned nearby. Therefore, he took out another burn phone and started calling that cell. Just like himself, Zahir knew his men would not hesitate to martyr themselves for their cause. Therefore, Zahir was confident that his men will try to take out as many CTU agents as they can, hence buying him the time he needed. He knew as of now, he and his men were already dead men walking. The difference was that they will go out in a blaze of glory and they will be remembered as martyrs who gave their lives for their cause.

**10:04:21**

"Sir, CTU has found the location on where Minister Lugansky is being held. It's an abandoned hotel in North Figueroa." Tim Woods, the Secretary of Homeland Security, informed President Hayworth, his chief of the staff, Derek Watts, and Ethan Kanin after he walked into the Oval office. He then quickly pulled the satellite image of that area on the wall-mounted LCD TV screen. "CTU TAC team is already on their way there. They should provide us with updates on the situation in a few minutes..."

After hearing Tim Woods' briefing, Ethan was quite relieved. He knew idea of bringing Jack Bauer on board was a correct one. Now with Jack Bauer and Renee Walker in the CTU's assault team, their chance of rescuing the Russian Foreign Minister improved dramatically. Although he hadn't forget what happened to President Omar Hassan in New York 18 months ago, Ethan still remained confident that CTU, with Jack and Renee's help, will rescue Minister Lugansky and resolving this diplomatic crisis peacefully. If all goes well, the Russians would stop pursuing Jack. President Hayworth told him earlier that he managed to convince the Russians to do so under the stipulation that Jack rescues Minister Lugansky. However, Ethan couldn't help but to get a feeling that something was wrong. _Maybe the Russians won't keep their word..._He worried, since it was technically a backroom deal. Therefore, after the crisis is averted, Ethan decided to discuss this matter with President Hayworth in detail.

At the same time, President Hayworth was also relieved because CTU were now on their way to rescue the Russian Foreign Minister. He was also glad this crisis will be averted without any further damage done to the Russian-American relationship. However, despite CTU had the Russian Foreign Minister's location, there was still a possibility that those IRK extremists had already killed him, like what happened in New York 18 months ago. Therefore, the President voiced his concerns. "Tim, I hate to ask this, but is there any possibility that those IRK terrorists had already executed the Russian Foreign Minister?"

"Sir, although I agree there are some similarities, the current situation is actually quite different compares to the incident in New York 18 months ago. For starters, the terrorists actually are using Minister Lugansky to leverage the Russians, which means they have incentives to keep him alive for as long as they need." Tim Woods explained professionally. "In addition, CTU is taking the full stealth approach. If everything goes according to the plan, I believe we have a very good chance rescuing Minister Lugansky before the terrorists execute him..."

Although President Hayworth agreed with Tim's assessments, he didn't completely share his optimism. He thought if the operation failed and Minister Lugansky ended up dead, the Russians will definitely blame him and his administration for that, hence further damaging the Russian-American relation. Having anticipated that possibility, President Hayworth thought if the unthinkable happened, he might need to try to shift the responsibility from him and his administration. _If the operation ended in failure, maybe placing the blame on Jack Bauer and the CTU might shift most of the blames from me. The Russians are already hated Bauer so it should be no problem for them to accept that Bauer purposely failed the operation... _He thought. Despite he was preparing for the contingency, President Hayworth still hoped that CTU successfully rescues the Russian Foreign Minister and resolves this crisis peacefully.

**10:06:39**

After arriving at CTU, a CTU agent escorted Chloe through the front desk. Although the ultra modern decor of CTU's LA office was a bit different than the CTU's New York office and a lot different than the old CTU Chloe used to work for, she still couldn't help but to feeling nostalgic. After walking past the front desk, she was then escorted to the bullpen, where the CTU director, Nathan Devlin, was already waiting for her there after being informed of her arrival. Truth to be told, Devlin was not thrilled. He didn't trust her since she was one of Jack Bauer's close associates, even though she used to be a CTU analyst. However, Devlin also considered the fact that Chloe O'Brian did somehow break the encryption on those files and managed to find the location where the IRK extremists were holding the Russian Foreign Minister. Therefore, he thought maybe she could be useful in the crisis like the current one. That was why Devlin took his director of field ops' suggestion and let Chloe help them. _As long as she was put on a short leash..._ When Devlin saw Chloe, he approached her.

"Mrs. O'Brian." He said to Chloe professionally as he extended his hand towards her. "Nathan Devlin, director of CTU's Los Angeles office."

"Chloe O'Brian." Chloe said in her polite and yet awkward fashion as she shook the CTU director's hand.

"My director of field op told me you can help us with the current crisis. Although I have some reservations, I have to say that was a nice job you did on decrypting those files..."

"Mr. Devlin, I'm not good with praise. Can I just get started?" Chloe asked. From Devlin's tone she could tell that she was not really welcome in CTU, which was expected considering the fallout of what happened 18 months ago. However, Chloe didn't care what the CTU director thought of her. She just wanted to help Jack and Renee through this crisis.

"Okay..." Devlin said with still maintaining his professional demeanour. _What's with her attitude?_ He thought, but he decided to let it go for the moment since the current crisis was more pressing. "A work station had been set up for you over there. You should have everything you need. "

"Thank you." Chloe said, and then quickly walked to the work station that was assigned to her.

Just after Chloe walked away from Devlin, one of the CTU analysts, Oscar Montez, approached him.

"Here are the narrowed-down list of known IRK operative files you requested, sir." Oscar said as he handed a tablet PC to Devlin, and then he saw Chloe sitting down at one of the work station. "Is that Chloe O'Brian?"

"Yeah, Evan thought she can help, and I trust his judgement..." Devlin said after grabbing the tablet PC from Oscar, and then he suddenly lowered his voice. "However I don't trust her….Can you set up a hidden activity monitoring program that monitors her workstation remotely without her noticing? I want you keep an eye on her. "

"Yeah, I can do that. I'll get right on it." Oscar agreed. He also shared his boss's concerns about Chloe O'Brian. He just didn't like the fact that Chloe O'Brian, a person of interest in the Jack Bauer case, will be granted access of CTU's system, even if she was a former CTU analyst. He also didn't understand that why White House wanted them to bring Jack Bauer onboard to help out with the current crisis. The entire situation just made Oscar felt uneasy considering what Jack Bauer did 18 months ago.

"Remember, O'Brian used to be a CTU analyst. A damn good one from what I heard. You might need to be very careful so she doesn't notice you snooping around her system..."

"Understood." Oscar said confidently. He knew Chloe O'Brian was good, but he never backed down from challenge before and he was not about to start now. _This should be interesting..._ He thought.

**10:11:51**

Sitting in the backseat of the third black SUV in the CTU's three-car convoy, both Jack and Renee both remained silent. One of the reasons for this awkward silence was that they both simply didn't want to discuss their personal affairs in front of CTU agents inside the car. Also, they needed to get their heads together for the rescue operation, considering what was at the stake. As the convoy continued heading toward to the designated staging area near the abandoned hotel, Jack took a quick look at Renee. She was simply staring through the window into the lights of Los Angeles. Although she looked calm on the surface, Jack could tell that something was worrying her. _Is she worrying about me? Is that why she stubbornly wants to tag along with the CTU TAC team?_ Jack wondered. He simply didn't want put Renee in any dangerous situation, but now here she was, sitting right beside him and getting ready for the CTU operation. If it was up to him, Renee would be running ops from the staging area, away from the potentially explosive situation. Although he knew Renee was a very capable agent, Jack just couldn't bear the thought of losing her for the second time. Therefore, he knew he would have to do everything in his power to ensure this operation goes as smoothly as possible, hence ensuring Renee's safety in process. While he was looking at the one of the side mirror, Jack suddenly noticed something suspicious about a blue sedan several car length behind them. Although the car looked and behave just like any other car in typical traffic, Jack somewhat suspected that it had been purposely following them for a short while. Renee also noticed the blue sedan from one of the side mirror. Despite her instinct told her there was something wrong with that sedan, she thought it was just another vehicle among the scattered traffics.

At the same time, Agent Evan Seaver was going over the assault plan on his tablet PC again. He knew the TAC team had to go in full stealth mode so those IRK extremists would not detect them and then execute the Russian Foreign Minister. There was definitely no room for mistakes. Fortunately, both Jack and Renee provided a lot of useful advices during the formation of the tactical plan. Seaver really appreciated their help. With two experienced field operatives on his team, he was more confident that they could successfully pull this off. He then checked the two passengers in the back through the rear-view mirror. Seaver wondered about the exact nature of Jack and Renee's relationship. He thought it was definitely more than a professional one. Although he didn't have any problem with that, Seaver just hoped that those two's relation won't get the way of the operation. Just as he finished his thought, suddenly, a blue sedan couple car length behind quickly, changed lane, sped up, and drove right pass the CTU convoy. It then swirled into the same traffic lane as the CTU convoy, matching the speed of the convoy in process. After it was directly in front of the first SUV of the CTU convoy, the blue sedan slowed down drastically, as if the driver wanting the first SUV to hit him. Before the driver of the lead SUV could react to situation ahead of him, the blue sedan exploded into a giant fire ball. The huge explosion instantly reduced the blue sedan into pieces of flying shrapnel, launching them at every direction. As the burning flame from the explosion engulfed the first SUV, the force from the explosion also launched the burning wreckage of the first SUV into the air. At the same time, the driver of the second SUV quickly attempted to turn the vehicle to its right as soon as he saw the giant fire ball, but the SUV's momentum combined with the sharp turn caused it to start tipping over. The explosion also startled some of the drivers on the road, causing them to swirl out of control and crash into each other as well.

Upon seeing what was happening in front of them, Jack, knowing that they were gonna crash, instinctively tried to shield Renee. On the other hand, Seaver quickly grabbed the driver's wheel as he was trying to help the driver avoiding what was ahead of them. However, it was too late. Their SUV still sped through the burning flame on the road and crashed into the second SUV while the second SUV was on its side. The force from the crash bumped the second SUV away. It flipped over again and continued to roll to the right side of the road. The SUV where Jack, Renee, and Seaver were in also flipped over as well after it bumped the second SUV away. The SUV then started rolling over as well. At the same time, after being launched into the air by the explosion, the burning wreckage for the first SUV crash landed on its roof. Meanwhile, after rolling over for a couple of times, the second SUV managed to land its wheels beside the curb on the right side of the road. Unfortunate for Jack, Renee, and Seaver, their SUV continued to roll over for a few more times until it landed on its rooftop. After landing on its rooftop, the SUV simply slid forward due to the momentum. The symphony composed of the sickening sound of twisting metal finally came to an end as Jack, Renee, and Seaver's SUV came to a complete stop in the middle of the traffic lane, not far from the flaming wreckage of the first SUV.

Inside the upside down SUV, Renee felt completely disoriented. She felt everything was hazy at the moment. _What the hell happened...?_ She wondered as she slowly regained her awareness of her surroundings. As her senses coming back, she quickly realized that she was upside down. There were shards of broken glasses everywhere. And there was someone calling her name, but she couldn't make out what the person was saying due to the disorientation. She remembered that they were in an accident. She remembered their SUV flipped over multiple times before it came to a stop. She then remembered that Jack tried to shield her the moment before the crash._ Oh My God, Jack!_ Upon realizing what happened, Renee seemed to be jolted awake. He then heard Jack's voice loud and clear.

"Renee!" Jack shouted worriedly. He had already freed himself from his seatbelt and his back was now lying on top of what used to be the interior ceiling of the SUV. While trying to move around his body inside the small enclosed space, Jack anxiously wanted to check to see if Renee was alright. The good news was she was moving. She was probably still disoriented. However, Jack still feared that she might suffer serious internal or external injuries. _Please be alright... _He prayed that nothing terrible had happened to her.

"Jack, I'm alright." Renee replied hoarsely as she unbuckled her seatbelt. After that she started to adjust her body so she could move around inside the crammed wreckage. Aside from the fact that she was a bit shaken up and disoriented, overall, she felt alright. She wasn't seriously injured and she didn't get stuck on anything. At the same time, she quickly looked to Jack's direction and was relieved to see he was alright, too.

"Everyone alright?" Seaver shouted as he began to move around his body inside the small space once he unbuckled his seatbelt. He got responses from Jack, Renee, and two CTU agents who were also sitting in the back. Both Jack and Renee were alright, but the two CTU agents in the back were still quite disoriented. Seaver then turned to the driver's direction since he didn't get a response from the driver. However, he did not like what he saw. The driver had blood all over his face and he was unconscious. Before he could begin to do anything to help the driver, all of the sudden, he heard a sound of screeching tires. Jack and Renee also heard that as well_._ They then heard people shouting, as if someone was shouting orders. Jack, realizing whoever just arrived was probably not friendly, quickly pulled out his USP Compact. Renee, on the other hand, also pulled out her Glock 19 as well. Seaver saw an M4 assault rifle with foregrip and EOTech552 Holographic sight that was lying near him so he began to reach for it.

After a white van arrived at the scene of the crash, four armed men emerged from the van. Most of them were coving their faces with either black ski masks or keffiya scarves. They carried various types of assault rifles, and they also had tactical vests with ammo pouches on top of the civilian clothes they were wearing. With their weapons raised, those gunmen fanned out and started advancing toward the scene of the crash. They could see there was a SUV's burning wreckage in front of them. Not far from the right of the flaming wreckage, there was another wrecked SUV beside the curb on the right side of the road. Suddenly, one of that SUV's backdoor opened and a disoriented CTU agent emerged from the vehicle. From the looks of it, the CTU agent seemed have suffered a serious case of concussion. Before the poor CTU agent could realize what was going on, one of the gunmen shot him multiple times with his AKMS assault rifle. The AKMS wielding gunmen then continued unloading his entire magazine at the SUV, killing whoever inside the SUV that survived the crash. Meanwhile, as another one of the gunmen began to check the flaming wreckage in the middle of the road, two other gunmen began advancing past the wreckage towards the upside down SUV not far from the burning wreckage. With their weapons ready, one gunman moved toward the left side of the upside down SUV and another moved toward the right side. If they saw any survivors they will take no hostages.

The sounds of Kalashnikov pretty much confirmed Jack's fear: those guys outside were not friendlies, and from their shouting, Jack figured those guys were IRK extremist. _Damn it..._ As he heard footsteps approaching to their position, Jack readied his gun and quickly crawled out of the upside down SUV from one of its windows. He then saw a gunman armed with a Krinkov assault rifle and he appeared to have surprised the gunman completely. Without missing a beat, Jack opened fire at the gunman with his USP Compact before the IRK gunmen could aim his short barrel assault rifle at him. One of Jack's bullets hit the gunman in his left thigh and another one hit his chest, causing the gunman to drop to the ground instantly. Jack got up from the ground and noticed the gunman, while lying on the ground and shouting in pain, struggled to raise his Krinkov assault rifle. Jack then delivered a quick gunshot to the wounded gunman's head, killing him instantly.

At the same time, another gunman on the opposite side of the upside down SUV heard the gunshots from Jack's USP Compact. He quickly turned his attention to the direction of gunshots and saw Jack shooting his comrade. However, before he could do anything, Renee also crawled out on her side from the upside down SUV and opened fire at him. Despite she was lying on her side, she still managed to hit the gunman in his chest and his head, killing the gunman before his body even fell onto the ground. Seaver also crawled out from the car window behind Renee from the upside down SUV. He quickly stood up and tried to help Renee getting up. However, just as he was standing beside Renee, Seaver saw another gunman, whom apparently was alerted by the commotion, coming around the flaming wreckage. Instinctively, he levelled his M4 at the gunman and opened fire. As mist of blood exploded out of the gunman chest, the gunman didn't have a chance of firing the G36C assault rifle at his was holding before he fell down on the ground.

Meanwhile, after dispatching the gunman on his side of the SUV, Jack quickly spotted another gunman who was near a wrecked SUV, which was beside the curb on the right side of the road. Between the gunman and the wrecked SUV, there was a bullet-ridden body of a CTU agent. The gunman, at the moment, was inserting a fresh magazine into his AKMS assault rifle. Without giving the gunman a chance to finish reloading his assault rifle, Jack simply took aim and shot the gunman in his chest twice, killing him in process. Afterward, Jack came around the corner of the upside town SUV to meet up with Renee and Seaver.

"You guys alright?" Jack asked.

Both Renee and Seaver nodded. However, before Renee could say a word, a white van suddenly appeared and began to drove pass them. The driver of the white van, after seeing his comrade got gunned down by the surviving CTU agents, decided to perform a drive-by. He knew by himself he was outmatched by those CTU agents so he thought by performing a drive-by, he might have a chance of taking out some of them. With his right side window already opened, he raised his Steyr TMP submachine gun on his right hand and fired from inside the van. However, due to the fact that the driver was shooting from a moving vehicle, most of his shots missed their targets and slammed into the exterior of the upside down SUV instead, sending tiny metal chips flying.

Upon taking fire from the black van, Jack, Renee, and Seaver stayed low and quickly returned fire at the direction of the van. Seaver, who levelled his M4 at the moving white van, continued squeezed his trigger a few times before the van was moving out of his M4's range. Some of his shots managed to pierce through the driver's head and body. Driven by a dead driver, the bullet-ridden vehicle simply swirled and crashed into a car parked on the roadside.

"Everyone good?" Seaver asked after seeing all the threats had been neutralized.

"Yeah." Jack responded hoarsely. Renee nodded at the same time.

Meanwhile, the two CTU agents inside the upside down SUV began crawling out of the SUV after they felt a bit less disoriented. After they got out of the upside down SUV, Jack, Renee, and Seaver helped them up. After both CTU agents got up, Seaver ordered them to secure the area, and then he called CTU to let them know their current situation. At the same time, Renee turned to Jack

"Jack, it's almost like those guys knew we're coming..." Renee said worriedly. The entire situation reminded her that horrible night when she and her fellow FBI agents tried to apprehend the rogue Starkwood mercenary Galvez and secure the missing biological weapon in process, but only to walk into an ambush set up by both Galvez and Tony Almedia.

Jack also thought there was no way those IRK extremists could have ambushed them like that unless they have CTU convoy's exact location. Originally, he thought they got spotted by the extremists' lookouts. However, terrorists cells like those IRK extremists did not have the manpower they needed to post lookouts all over the blocks. Therefore, Jack figured someone must have given those extremists their real-time location. He figured it was probably someone inside CTU since they were the ones who were monitoring the situation.

"You think someone tipped them off?" Renee added as if she could read Jack's mind.

"Possibly, but we have to deal with that later. We're running out of time…" Jack stated. Just as he finished his sentence, Seaver approached Jack.

"Jack, I just spoke with CTU. Backups are on their way..." The young agent said. Since they were taking the stealth approach, the LAPD were hanging back several blocks from the target area so they would not spook the IRK extremists. "How the hell did those guys know we're coming?"

"Agent Seaver, we don't have time to wait for backups. Those extremists already know we're coming and they are probably preparing Minister Lugansky's execution as we speak. We need to move now!" Jack urged.

Seaver hesitated for a short moment. He thought that assaulting a terrorist hideout with five people including him was extremely risky, considering the fact that those terrorists were prepared for them. However, he also thought that Jack was right. Those guys knew they were coming and the Russian Foreign Minister's execution was now imminent. They need to get into that abandoned hotel now. Therefore, Seaver made up him mind.

"Langford! Harris! Grabbed anything you can salvage from the car. We're moving out!" He ordered. After salvaging some workable equipments and gears from the crashed SUVs, Jack, Renee, Seaver, and the other CTU agent quickly secured an empty SUV nearby. The SUV was abandoned by its owner in a hurry when the shootout occurred so the key was still in the ignition. After they got into the vehicle, Seaver stepped on the gas and the SUV sped away from the scene of the aftermath of the ambush.

**10:20:43**

After calling the men and still didn't get an answer, Zahir was getting more and more worried. He thought by using the element of surprise, his men should be able to make the short work of those CTU agents. However, since his men hadn't reported in, Zahir assumed the Americans must have taken out his men. _How could that have happened? _He thought angrily. He also thought he definitely underestimated the Americans. Knowing he didn't have much time left, he quickly turned to his technician and asked anxiously.

"Are we ready for broadcast?"

"We are almost ready, Zahir. I just need to make sure the Americans can't interrupt our broadcast remotely..." Zahir's technician replied.

Meanwhile, sitting on a chair with his hands tied behind his back, Minister Lugansky was scared of what soon to come even though he did not displayed his fear. Judging from what he heard from the conversations between Zahir and his men, Lugansky knew the help was coming, but he also feared the possibility that help won't get here in time. After he heard Zahir ordered some of the extremists to guard the perimeter around the hotel, he knew he had to do something to stall those extremists. He then saw the camera set up not far in front of him. Realizing both of his feet wasn't bounded and those extremists weren't paying attention to him, Lugansky suddenly charged at the camera, knocking it over.

After hearing the ruckus, Zahir turned to Lugansky's direction and quickly noticed his prisoner had managed to knock over the camera. Angered by what he saw, Zahir kicked Lugansky in his chest while he was lying on the ground. Another one of his men in the room joined Zahir as well. After kicking Lugansky several times, Zahir ordered his men to get the Russian Foreign Minister up from the ground. Lugansky, on the other hand, simply stared at his captors defiantly with nothing but contempt.

"Tied his hands and feet to the chair!" Zahir shouted angrily to his subordinate, and then he turned to his technician, whom, at the moment, was getting the camera up. "Fix the camera! We need to start the broadcast now!" Zahir really wanted to broadcast the Russian Foreign Minister's execution live on the internet. He had considered pre-recording the execution, like the execution of that traitor Omar Hassan 18 months ago. However, given the time frame he had, he and his men won't be able to pull that off, but Zahir was certain about one thing. With or without the ability to broadcast on the internet stream, he will kill the Russian Foreign Minister and his action will show the world consequences of meddling with the great Islamic Republic of Kamistan's affairs.

**10:25:03**

After a short drive, Jack, Renee, Seaver, and the other two CTU agents arrived at the street where the abandoned hotel was on. Because it was a relatively unsafe neighbourhood, there was hardly any pedestrian in the area, especially at night. As they drove, Jack, Renee, and Seaver kept their eyes open for any sign of potential danger. Aside from a few stragglers on the street, there wasn't anything out of ordinary for this neighbourhood. Other than their SUV, there was no traffic on the street. _It's way too quiet..._ Jack thought. Those IRK extremists probably were waiting for them since they knew CTU was coming. Right now, it was the calm before the storm. There were some cars parked on either side of the street, and those extremists could easily hide behind any one of those cars, waiting to ambush them. As they were near the abandoned hotel, all of the sudden, Jack saw something not far on their left: A masked man suddenly emerged from behind one of the cars parked by the curb. The man was holding a RPG-7 Launcher. Upon seeing the SUV, he fired the rocket propelled grenade at the SUV.

"Agent Seaver!" Jack shouted, signalling him to pull back.

Seaver quickly put the SUV in reverse once he saw the masked man with a RPG-7 pointing at their direction. As the SUV backing up in full speed, Seaver, Jack, and Renee saw the RPG round, with a stream of trailing smoke behind it, coming towards them in full speed. However, due to the inaccurate nature of rocket propelled grenade, its trajectory was off. Instead hitting its intended target, the RPG round hit another car not far beside the SUV. The car exploded upon the RPG hit and the force from the explosion shattered all of SUV's right windows. After seeing he did not hit the SUV, the masked man shouted out series of orders, telling his comrades who were hiding to start attacking the SUV. Multiple armed IRK extremists then appeared seemingly out of nowhere and started shooting at the SUV.

Taking fire from 10 o'clock and 12 o'clock directions, Jack, Renee, Seaver, and other two CTU agents quickly got out of the SUV, and using the SUV's doors as cover, they returned fire. One of the IRK extremists actually tried to go across the street at the SUV while firing his AKMS assault rifle. However, he was quickly cut down by Seaver's M4 fire. As the firefight raged on, hails of bullets slammed into SUV, sending chips of metallic paints flying in every direction. Jack knew if they continued to stay in the same place, they were gonna get pinned down and completely surrounded by those guys.

"Agent Seaver, we need to get out of here now!" Jack said.

Seaver also shared the same concern. Therefore, after exchanging a look with Jack, Seaver told the other two CTU agents to lay down some covering fire as he moved across the street. As the other two CTU agents opened fires at their 10 o'clock and 12 o'clock directions with their M4, Seaver managed to move behind a blue pickup truck which was parked on the left side of the road. At the same time, Jack popped out from the SUV's right front door, took a few shots at the IRK extremists in his 12 o'clock direction, and then began to move forward. As he stayed low and moved towards a red sedan one or two cars in front of him, Renee moved to Jack's original spot behind the SUV's right front door and started laying down some covering fire for Jack. Her shots managed to shattered some of the car windows as those IRK extremists used the vehicles in front of them as covers. After she kept the gunmen at their 12 o'clock direction pinned, she saw Jack safely made it behind a red sedan. Renee shifted her attention to a group of gunmen across street at her 10 o'clock direction. They were focusing their fire on Seaver and other two CTU agents. Without missing a beat, she opened fired at those gunmen with her Glock 19 and was able to hit one of the gunmen in his chest and another in his left shoulder. However, just after Renee continued to engage the group of the gunmen across the street, a gunman from her 12 o'clock direction popped out from the corner of the vehicle he was hiding behind and started shooting at her again, forcing Renee to duck behind the SUV door for cover. Jack, who finished reloading his weapon, popped out from the right corner of the red sedan and started engaging at the gunman who was shooting at Renee. He managed to hit the gunman right in his forehead before he could retreat behind his cover. After taking care of the gunman at his 12' o'clock direction, Jack then shifted his attention to the gunmen across the street and started shooting at them, covering Renee in process. Renee, on the other hand, knew Jack was covering her, so she stayed low and quickly moved to Jack's position. After she made it behind the red sedan, Jack took a quick look at her, making sure she was alright. Renee, after seeing Jack's concerned look, nodded back as she injected the spent magazine from her Glock 19.

Across the street, using parked cars as cover, the wounded gunman quickly retreated behind another vehicle behind him after dropping his MP5k submachine gun. With CTU agents shooting at him from seemingly every direction, he had no choice but to abandon his comrade who was lying beside him with large volume of blood gushing out from the gunshot wound on his chest. However, after he was behind cover, the wounded gunman met up another one of his comrade, who was also taking cover at the same spot as him. After both of them regroup, the wounded terrorist's keffiya-wearing comrade started berating him for his cowardice as bullets continued hitting the car they used as cover and shattering its windows in process. The wounded terrorist then shouted back angrily at his comrade, saying that he was wounded and he had no weapon. After a brief arguing, the keffiya-wearing gunman decided to re-focus his attention to the on-going gun battle. Not wanting to get pinned down by those CTU agents, he simply made a dash towards another car across the street. After seeing his running across the street while firing his AKMS at the same time, the wounded gunman continued to apply pressure to his wounded shoulder. With bullets continued flying everywhere and having no weapon at his hands, the wounded IRK extremist panicked and simply made a run for the abandoned hotel.

Meanwhile, behind a blue pickup truck, Seaver retreated behind his cover after his current magazine ran empty. One of the CTU agents, who had already joined him behind the blue pickup truck not long ago, simply popped out from his cover and continued engaging those IRK extremists while Seaver reloaded his M4. The other CTU agent, who remained behind the cover of the SUV full of bullet holes, did the same. After he inserted a fresh magazine and hit the bolt-release on his M4, Seaver popped out around the right corner of the blue pickup truck and saw a gunman running across the street while firing an AKMS at them at the same time. He quickly took aim at the gunman with his M4 but a series of stray bullets managed to land on the right side of the blue pickup truck, shattering its tail lights as well as sending tiny metallic chips flying in every direction. Taking fire, Seaver had no choice but to retreat behind his cover again. _Damn it…_ He cursed under his breath.

After making it to the left side of the street safely, the keffiya-wearing gunman quickly thought cover behind a car which was a few cars in front of Jack and Renee's position. Just as he was about to take out peek from behind his current cover, the front and back windows of the car he was using for cover were shattered by Jack's gunfire. It appeared the man and woman couple cars in front of him, along with those CTU agents at his 1 o'clock direction across the streets, noticed he shifted his position. He honestly didn't expect such fierce resistance from the Americans. Therefore, after blind-firing his AKMS assault rifle at Jack and Renee, the keffiya wearing gunman took out a Mecar M72 grenade, pulled its pin, and then lobbed it at the direction of the CTU agents.

As the CTU agent who still remained behind the SUV continued to engaging the IRK extremists in front, all of the sudden, amidst the gunfire, he heard a familiar yet frightening thud sound on the hood of the SUV. He then saw a Mecar M72 grenade rolled off the hood of the SUV and fell onto the ground near him. Instinctively, the CTU agent began running away from the SUV to in an effort to avoid the grenade. However, before he could get clear, the grenades exploded behind him and ignited the front section of the SUV. Caught by the explosion, the CTU agent was knocked down by its force.

"Langford!" Seaver shouted after saw the CTU agent lying near the burning SUV. The other CTU agent, who was taking cover besides him, quickly rushed out to check on his fellow agent lying on the ground. Seaver, on the other hand, laid down some covering fire for the agent. He hoped that agent lying there was still alive.

At the same time, Jack, after knowing what happened, knew they had to end this as quickly as possible. "Renee, cover me, I'm gonna try to flank them from the right."

Renee nodded, and then she popped out behind the red sedan and laid down some covering fire for Jack as he went around the right corner of the red sedan. The keffiya wearing gunman was gonna popped out from behind his cover after he reloaded his weapon, but as Renee's covering fire continued to assault the car he was using for cover, he knew was effectively pinned down. Meanwhile, using the vehicles parked on the right side of the road as cover, Jack stayed low and stealthily advanced toward the keffiya-wearing gunman's position. The gunman was pinned down by Renee as well as Seaver's covering fire. Just as he was about to popped out from behind of his cover again, he caught Jack at his 9 o'clock direction from the corner of his eyes, but he was too late. Jack, without any hesitation, shot the keffiya-wearing gunman in the head. After killing the gunman, he picked up the dead gunman's AKMS assault rifle on and quickly checked the weapon. Jack then saw two remaining gunmen directly across the street. One gunman, who was busy shooting at both Renee and Seaver's direction with a G36C assault rifle, didn't notice him. He also saw a masked gunman inserting another rocket into a RPG-7 launcher. Without missing a beat, Jack levelled the AKMS he was holding at those two gunmen on the left side of the road and opened fire. Without realizing their right flank was exposed, hail of bullets instantly ripped through the two gunmen's body, killing them instantly.

After the sound of gunshots from the directions of those IRK terrorists stopped, Seaver popped out from behind of his cover with his M4 raised. He noticed all of the gunmen at the scene were dead. "Clear!" He shouted, and then he went to check on his wounded colleague. Fortunately, that CTU agent was still alive, but he was badly wounded. At the same time, Jack and Renee regrouped with Seaver.

Just as Seaver was about to speak, suddenly, he heard his boss' voice from his earpiece. "_Evan, those extremists are starting their broadcast. Your team needs to get in there now!"_

_Damn it…_ He thought, and then he turned to Jack and Renee.

"Those extremists are starting their broadcast. We need to move." Seaver said. "You guys good?"

"Yeah." Both Jack and Renee said as they nodded their heads.

After checking with Jack and Renee, Seaver turned to the CTU agent who was tending the wounded agent. "Harris, give me your backpack. Stay with him until backup arrives."

Without missing a beat, the CTU agent threw his backpack at Seaver. After grabbing the backpack, Seaver, along with Jack and Renee, began to proceed towards the abandoned hotel. Right now, all three of them knew it was a bad idea, considering the opposition they had faced minutes ago. However, with the Russian Foreign Minister's life on the line and what was at stakes here, Jack, Renee, and Seaver knew they had no choice but to press forward into the lion's den.

**10:35:22**

After they entered the abandoned hotel, Jack noticed a blood trail that led to the west emergency stairwell. He thought it must be from wounded extremists who had retreated back to the hotel. He also thought the blood trial might lead them to where those IRK extremists were holding up inside this hotel, hence saving them the trouble of searching room-to-room for every floor. Therefore, Jack, Renee, and Seaver followed the blood trail as they carefully moved through the stairwell. The blood trail led them to the second floor of the hotel. After they reached the second floor, they stopped at the emergency exit. With Seaver covering the stairs that led to the third floor and Renee covering the way where they came from, Jack opened the emergency exit door and took a quick peek to make sure the coast was clear. So far, he only saw a typical hotel hallway with no one in sight. Although the hallway was clear, Jack was cautious. After he signalled Renee and Seaver that the coast was clear, he raised the AKMS his was carrying and stepped into the hallway. Renee and Seaver followed Jack and stepped into the hallway as well. After both Jack and Renee took a few steps forward, Seaver quietly called to them after he noticed bloodstains on the door frame on his left as well as the floor near him.

"Guys..." Seaver then pointed to the bloodstains after Jack and Renee shifted their attention to him.

Jack quickly came to Seaver's side while Renee continued covering the hallway. Knowing that they needed to breach and clear the room, Seaver quickly set his backpack down so three of them could load up some ammos and equipments. As Seaver picked more magazines for his M4 from the backpack, Jack quickly grabbed a few flashbangs from the backpack. He also grabbed a few Glock 19 magazines for Renee as well. After he handed the extra magazines to her, Jack signalled her to continue covering the hallway as they clear the room. Renee nodded back at Jack in acknowledgement. After both Jack and Seaver finished loading up, they stood against both sides of the door frame, ready to breach the door.

"You ready?" Jack asked.

"Yeah." Seaver replied, and then he kicked the door open.

Inside the room, a ski-mask wearing IRK extremist was actually tending his wounded comrade who ran back to the hotel minutes ago. Lying on the floor with his right hand pressing against his wounded on his left shoulder, the wounded gunman was dying. He had lost a lot of his blood and he couldn't seem to stop the bleeding. All of the sudden, the door was kicked open. As soon as he saw that, the ski-mask wearing extremist quickly went for his AKM assault rifle on the ground. However, before the IRK extremist could even raise his assault rifle, Jack quickly shot him multiple times in the chest with the AKMS he was holding. At the same time, the wounded gunman, try to grab a Beretta 92 pistol that was lying on the floor near him. However, just as he grabbed the pistol, Seaver shot him with his M4.

After making sure the room was clear, Jack and Seaver quickly moved to the adjacent room. It was here they discovered a huge gaping hole on the center of one of the walls. The hole actually led to a make-shift secret passage to the adjacent room. Jack thought those IRK extremists probably had done the same thing to other rooms as well so they could travel from one room to another faster. Jack and Seaver entered the secret passage through the gaping hole on the wall, but they soon found out that the other end of the passage way was blocked by a tall cabinet on the other side. With their path blocked, Jack and Seaver had no choice but to push the cabinet out of the way. Together, they were able to push the cabinet forward, leaving just enough space so both of them could come through. Jack then leaned to his left to check around the corner of the cabinet. He saw there was a doorway in front of them. All of a sudden, a group IRK extremist, who were on the other side of the doorway, spotted Jack peeking around the corner of the cabinet and started shooting at him. Jack quickly retreated behind the cabinet as bullets slammed into it. At the same time, Seaver emerged from the right side of the cabinet and quickly returned fire at the doorway while moving up to the right of the doorway, forcing the IRK extremists on the other end to retreat behind their make-shift covers in forms of couch and tables. As Seaver was providing covering fire, Jack also moved up to the left of the doorway while shooting at the extremists. Just as the two were made it to the left and right of the doorway, the IRK extremists opened fire again. Their bullets hit the edge of doorway and sent a lot of tiny debris flying. As hails of bullets continued pouring through the doorway, Jack quickly ditched his out-of-ammo AKMS and took out his USP Compact. He also took out a flashbang from one of his pocket. He then signalled the young CTU agent to provide covering fire. Seaver nodded in acknowledgement as he reloaded his M4. After slamming his M4's bolt-release, he quickly popped out around the corner of the doorway and opened fire. As expected, those IRK extremists quickly retrieved behind their respective covers again. While Seaver's covering fire kept those extremists pinned, Jack pulled the pin of the flashbang and tossed it through the doorway.

At the same time, one of the IRK extremists who was taking cover behind a couch was going to emerge from behind his cover. However, just as he was about to do so, he heard a thud sound. Thinking it was a grenade threw by the Americans, the IRK extremist decided to continue stay behind the couch until the grenade went off. Suddenly, the flashbang Jack threw went off, effectively stunned an extremist who was caught completely off guard.

After the flashbang went off, Seaver quickly stormed through the doorway and Jack followed him. After they entered the room where the IRK extremists were holding their position, Seaver spotted an extremists on his left. Although he was holding an MP5k submachine gun, the extremist was completely blinded and disoriented by the flashbang. Quickly, Seaver shot him before he could recover. At the same time, the extremist who was hiding behind a couch while the flashbang went off emerged from his cover. However, just as he was about to open fire with his Krinkov assault rifle, Jack, who was following behind Seaver, shot the extremist twice in his chest, killing him in process. Shortly after Jack neutralized the threat in front of him, a third IRK extremists rushed into the room from an adjacent room with his Styer TMP submachine gun. Instinctively, Jack and Seaver turned to that extremist's direction and opened fire at him, killing him instantly before he could fire his weapon. After all of the threats in the room were neutralized, Jack and Seaver continued to clear the rooms adjacent to the room they were in, hoping to find the Russian Foreign Minister.

Meanwhile, Renee, who was covering the main hallway at the time, had slowly and carefully advanced along the hallway while keeping her Glock 19 levelled. When she moved passed a door, she stopped to check to see whether the door was locked. So far, after trying out three doors on her right, all three of them were either locked or barricaded. While Renee continued to move forward slowly while keeping her gun levelled at front, she hoped Jack was alright. Although there were gunshots coming from the rooms on her left, she hoped those belonged to Jack and the young CTU agent. At the moment, she thought she needed to believe Jack will make it out of this dangerous operation in one piece, like countless situation he had been in before. All of the sudden, a door which was two doors in front of her on her right opened and an armed man rushed out. Apparently, he heard the gunshots coming from across the main hallway. Renee, without missing a beat, shot him twice before the IRK extremist could even pointed his AKMS assault rifle at her. After taking out the armed man, Renee quickly moved to the side of that door. As she got close to the door, she heard the IRK extremist's speech. Obviously, she was close to the place where those extremists were holding the Russian Foreign Minister. Renee knew those guys were gonna execute him after they finished their rant, so she needed to get in there now. After taking a peek around the door and making sure the room was clear, she cautiously enter the room. Following the IRK extremist's voice, she carefully navigate through the room and found a secret passage way on one of the walls.

At the same time, Karim Zahir was about to wrap up his anger-fuelled speech. He stood beside Lugansky, who was currently tied to a chair and his mouth was duct-taped. Also besides the Russian Foreign Minister was another Zahir's man. He was holding a machete and eagerly waiting for Zahir to finish his speech. Right now, Lugansky was beyond nervous and scared, but he did not want to show those emotions, especially when it was broadcasted on internet stream live. Therefore he simply stared at the camera and the camera man with absolute contempt.

"...This is what happened when you try to meddle with the affairs of Kamistan..." Zahir said to the camera, and then he nodded to the man holding a machete, giving him the permission to behead the Russian Foreign Minister. Without saying a word, the machete-wielding man readied his machete and prepared to take a swing at Minister Lugansky's head with it. However just as he was about to do so, a bullet suddenly pierced through his skull, killing him instantly. His blood spattered to Zahir and Minister Lugansky. After seeing his comrade got killed, the camera man quickly realized that the shot came from his left so his turned to his left and saw an auburn haired woman holding a gun. However, before the camera man could raise his Krinkov assault rifle at Renee, she shot him twice in his chest, causing him to fall backward. Because his finger involuntarily clenched to the trigger of his short barrel assault rifle, he also ended up shooting out some drop ceilings as he fell backward. On his way down, the dead camera man also knocked over the camera and other broadcasting equipments as well. With the broadcast equipments damaged, the IRK extremists' live broadcast was effectively terminated. After shooting the camera man, Renee instantly shifted her aim at Zahir, who was standing besides Minister Lugansky. He was holding an M67 frag grenade. Rather than pulling out his pistol, Zahir thought since he was gonna die, he might as try to die a martyr's death by taking out the Russian Foreign Minister and that CTU bitch who killed his men. However, as soon as his hand reached for the grenade's pin, Renee, who already had her Glock 19 trained at Zahir's head, quickly aimed for his "apricot" and pulled the trigger. She knew by hitting that particular spot where the brain stem meets the spine would prevent any involuntary movement from the target, for instance, like pulling a grenade pin. After Zahir went down Renee hastily moved to secure the Russian Foreign Minister. She thought if that extremist managed to pull the pin she might have to pick up the grenade and throw it away before the fuse inside it ignites. Fortunately, that was not the case. Renee saw the pin on the grenade was still intact. She almost collapsed in relief. After making sure her surroundings was clear, she turned to the Russian Foreign Minister and tried to untie him from the chair.

"Mr. Minister, are you alright?" Renee asked as she carefully removed the piece of duct-tape covering Minister Lugansky's mouth.

"Yes..." Minister Lugansky answered as he panted. He was absolutely relieved that CTU arrived just in the nick of time. He was anxious to get out of the ropes that tied him to the chair.

At the same time, Jack and Seaver entered the room as well. "Renee!" Jack said as he approached her and the Russian Foreign Minister.

"Jack, help me cut these ropes..." Renee replied as Jack helped her removed the ropes that bounded Lugansky to the chair he was sitting in.

"Guys, SWAT is already here and they are clearing the first floor as we speak..." Seaver updated Jack and Renee as he continued to cover each of the room's entrance.

Just as Jack cut the final rope that bounded Minister Lugansky, suddenly, he heard a faint sound of beeping coming from the ceiling. He looked up and saw something extremely horrifying. The camera man whom Renee shot earlier unintentionally blew out some drop ceiling panels above them with his gunfire as he fell to the floor. As a result, a section of the plenum space on top of a wall was exposed. It was there inside the plenum space where Jack saw a bomb composed of several large bricks of C4. The bomb had an electronic detonator with red blinking LED lights attached to it. _Damn it! These guys must have wired the place..._ Jack cursed in his mind. At the same time, Renee and Seaver saw the bomb as well.

"Agent Seaver, get the Minister out of the building now!" Jack shouted. Right after he said that, the intensity and the frequency of the beeping from the bomb increased, indicating the bomb is gonna go off soon.

After hearing what Jack said, Seaver quickly grabbed the Russian Foreign Minister while instructing the SWAT inside the hotel to pull out at this instant. However, the Russian Foreign Minister didn't seem to be ready to leave the building just yet. From the looks of it, he seemed to want to find something he had lost. After Seaver grabbed him, Lugansky kept saying "_I need to find Module 67!_" in Russian repeatedly. Seaver, on the other hand, simply ignored the Russian Foreign Minister while he continued dragging him towards the main hallway forcefully. Right now, getting the Russian Foreign Minister to safety was Seaver's top priority. He knew the rest of the stuff can be sorted out later once the Russian Foreign Minister was safe.

At the same time, Renee quickly pulled up a table and then she climbed on top of it. Judging from the increase in the intensity of the beeping sound, she figured there probably won't be enough time for her and Jack to get out of the building before the bomb detonate. Therefore, she knew there was no other choice but to try to disarm the bomb. After she stuck her head into the plenum space, Renee turned on the tiny flash light she was holding. However, as soon as she turned on her flash light, she was frightened by what she had found. The detonator on the main bomb Jack saw earlier had several long wires branched out from it, and those wires were connected to several smaller blocks of C4 which were spread out inside the ceiling. There were enough explosives there to bring down the entire building. _Oh my God..._ Fighting her panic and fear, Renee took out a small knife from one of her pocket and tried to defuse the bomb.

"Renee, we need to go now!" Jack shouted anxiously at Renee after seeing her climbed on top of the table to exam the bomb. _What the hell was she thinking?_ Jack thought. He was annoyed by the fact that Renee was putting herself in harm's way again. Despite his annoyance, right now, Jack wanted to get her out of the building at this very instant.

"Jack, we don't have the time!" Renee shouted back at Jack as she continued to work on defusing the bomb. "I know the trigger mechanism. I can disarm it!" Fortunately, all of the C4 explosives were connected to one single detonator, so she only needed to disable that one particular detonator in order to defuse the bomb. Despite her fear, Renee knew she could not fail, not with Jack's life on the line.

_Damn it why is she so stubborn..._ Although he knew Renee was right. There was simply no time for both of them to clear out of the building, but that still didn't stop Jack from trying. Just as Jack prepared to pull Renee down from the table she was standing on, all of the sudden, the beeping emitted from the bomb became even more rapid than seconds ago. It seemed like the bomb was about to detonate.

"Renee!"

"Jack I almost got it!" Renee answered.

However, Jack simply pulled Renee down from the table forcefully, and then quickly pinned her down on the floor in an attempt to shield her from the upcoming explosion. He knew it probably won't do much to protect Renee from the explosion but it was the least he could do at the moment. On the other hand, after her head hit the floor, Renee was completely caught by surprised by Jack's action. As the beeping sound increased its intensity towards the detonation, Jack feared for the worst. All of the sudden, the rapid bleeping ceased, like someone cut the power of the detonator. Jack was confused. There wasn't any explosion and he and Renee were alright. He then suddenly realized what happened: Renee managed to disarm the bomb in a nick of time right before he pulled her down from the table. Still on top of Renee, Jack simply stared at her gorgeous face in amazement. Although he was still a bit angry at her for taking such huge risk, he was relief to see that she was alright and everything worked out alright in the end. At the same time, Renee also stared back at Jack in relief and amazement. She was glad that Jack was alright, despite having minor misgivings about Jack pulling her of the table while she was on the verge of disarming the bomb.

"You okay?" Jack asked softly. His face was still close to hers.

"Yeah..." Renee answered as she continued to stare at his eyes in relief and amazement. She knew Jack was trying to protect her from the possible explosion if she didn't successfully defuse the bomb, but the lack of distance between her and Jack actually made her heart beat faster and her face became a little bit flustered.

"We should get out of here..." Jack said as noticed Renee getting a bit flustered. He knew this was not the time and the place so he reluctantly pulled his face away from Renee's and then got up from the floor. He also helped Renee up as well. They were both glad to see that they successfully averted a major international incident. Most importantly, both of them were extremely relieved that they somehow managed to weather through this horrifying storm and reached the shore safely. Together, both of them quickly walked out of the abandoned hotel.

**10:44:58**

After being rescued by Jack, Renee, and Seaver, the Russian Foreign Minister was evacuated to a parking lot not far from the abandoned hotel. The once empty parking lot was now CTU's staging area. This was evident due to the influx of CTU vehicles and personnel as well as presence of LAPD. Standing besides one of the CTU's black SUV, Jack took a moment and observed what was going on around him. Right now, CTU's EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team had already entered to abandoned hotel to do a complete sweep the building in order to make sure the building was clear of any explosives, and CTU TAC team personnel were heading over there now. He also saw Agent Seaver, who at the moment was talking on his radio. Beside Seaver was the Russian Foreign Minister, who was being treated by paramedics. Jack still couldn't forget what happened 18 months ago with the President Omar Hassan, but he was glad that things managed to work out this time around.

Lugansky, on the other hand, noticed Jack was looking at him. He wanted to thank Jack and the other agents in person, but knowing there was a very urgent matter that required him to discuss it with Moscow ASAP, he would have to settle for simply giving Jack a nod of appreciation and gratitude. Truth to be told, after the past few hours, Lugansky had realized that Jack Bauer was not the man the Russian intelligence reports claimed him to be. He knew Jack had every reason to let him die but instead he saved him twice in a row. Therefore, Lugansky now had a new found respect for Jack.

Jack, on the other hand, simply acknowledged Lugansky's gratitude. Although he still couldn't forgive what Lugansky's boss, Yuri Suvarov, and his predecessor, Mikhail Novakovich, did to Renee 18 months ago, he could sense Lugansky's sincerity from the expression on Lugansky's face. Jack then shifted his eyes to Renee, who was currently talking to a CTU agent. He was relieved that she made it through the operation without any harm. As he continued watching over Renee, he couldn't help but to be amazed and thankful by the fact that she was alive after that terrible morning 18 months ago. Jack knew for people like him, a second chance like that was nothing but a fable, but somehow, he managed to be awarded for it. He knew no matter what, he had to hold on to that second chance. That was why he made a promise to himself that he won't fail her again. As he continued looking at Renee, he saw her walking back towards him after she finished talking to one of the CTU agents.

"Hey..." She greeted Jack.

"Did you find out about Agent Ferris' status?" Jack asked. That was among one of reasons why Renee went to talk to one of the CTU agents.

"She's already out of the surgery. Doctors said she's gonna pull through." Renee stated. She was glad that Sarah survived that horrible ordeal. However, her heart also ached for Sarah as well. Because of her help, she managed to expose Kirilenko's operation to the FBI and met up with Jack in process. Renee thought Sarah was a good and compassionate agent and she did not deserve any of those unfortunate events had happened to her in the past few hours.

"That's good to hear." Jack said. He was also glad to hear that young FBI agent who helped Renee taking down Kirilenko was alright too.

"By the way, CTU is going over the evidences Chloe gave to them. They should be able to clear you for the IRK Foreign Minister's assassination soon." Renee said. She couldn't help but to feel absolutely relieved that thanks to Chloe, Jack's name will soon be cleared for IRK Foreign Minister's assassination. In addition to that, Renee was also relived to know that the Russians were gonna let Jack off the hook soon because he saved their Foreign Minister and resolved the crisis. That was the deal according to Ethan Kanin and Jack had delivered his end of the bargain. With all of Jack's current troubles going away, Renee thought he should finally be able to get his life, the life he had 18 months ago, back. She was happy for him.

Jack simply nodded. He wondered what would happen if he had taken the shot and killed Kirilenko this morning. Could he have prevented Kirilenko from going after Renee if he did that? But nevertheless, he was able to find out about Renee and managed to keep her safe from Kirilenko and his goons. In some ways, knowing that, Jack didn't regret not taking the shot. As he continued looking at Renee in silent, Jack knew things are far from over. He was sure that Kirilenko's associates back in Russia were the ones who hired those mercenaries to extract Minister Lugansky from the FBI field office and delivered him to those IRK extremists in order to drive both Russia and IRK into a brink of war. However, CTU seemed to think otherwise. To make the matter worse, there seemed to be a leak inside CTU, which Jack thought it was probably why those IRK extremists knew CTU was coming. The more he thought about those the more worried he became.

As they continued to look into each other's eyes, Renee could sense that something was troubling Jack despite he didn't let it to be shown. "Jack, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly. Renee could easily guess what was worrying Jack. The people who hired those mercenaries to kidnap the Russian Foreign Minister and aided those IRK extremists were still at large. She knew Jack was thinking about going after them, and that was what worried Renee the most. He is gonna put himself in dangerous situations again. _Damn it Jack..._

"I don't think the people behind these attacks are finished yet..." Jack stated. Although CTU managed to stop IRK extremists from executing the Russian Foreign Minister live on the internet, he knew Kirilenko's associates would probably had other plans to ensure the tension between Russia and IRK continues to rise. Therefore, Jack figured Kirilenko's associates will probably want to eliminate any loose end that could prove the terrorist attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago was the work of Kirilenko rather than IRK operatives. That could actually put Renee at risk because of what she knew about Kirilenko's operation in Kazakhstan, which could prove Kirilenko was behind the attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago. Therefore, worrying about Renee's safety, Jack knew he needed to find Kirilenko's associates before they managed to find out about Renee. _There is no way in hell those bastards are gonna lay their hands on her..._

Upon hearing what Jack said, Renee knew this was what exactly she was worrying about: Jack is willingly putting his life on the line again in another dangerous situation, especially when he could just walk away from all of these troubles and be reunited with his family. However, she also feared that the reason Jack was going after the people behind these attacks was because of her, since back in the FBI field office he did mention the possibility of Kirilenko's associates coming after her. Upon thinking about that, Renee's heart ached considerably. She had already drag Jack into her mess 18 months ago and now she seemed to be doing it again. Renee knew she simply couldn't let him do that again. Therefore, she decided to tell Jack to walk away and go back to his family first. Renee knew he wouldn't agreed to it, but she was gonna try to convince him anyway. It was her fight, her mess, not his. "Jack..." she said. However, before she could finish what she was going to say, Seaver suddenly appeared besides them. He wanted to update both Jack and her on the current situation.

"EOD finished their sweep. The building is clear now and CSU is going inside. I thought you guys might want to tag along." Seaver said. He knew with the IRK extremists neutralized, there was still one loose end left: the mysterious mercenaries who attacked the FBI field office hours ago. Seaver hoped by bring along Jack and Renee, they could provide some fresh eyes and help them could find evidences that could lead them to those mercenaries.

"Thank you, Agent Seaver." Jack stated. He also wanted to go back inside the abandoned hotel because he figured he might find new evidences that could possibly lead him and the CTU to those mercenaries, or even better, Kirilenko's associates. Jack knew the sooner he and the CTU found them, the sooner Renee will be safe and he could be reunited with Kim and his granddaughter again.

After hearing what Seaver said, Renee simply nodded in acknowledgement. For now, she decided to put off telling Jack what how she felt about him going after the people behind today's attacks. She simply didn't want to discuss the matter in front of CTU agents mainly because it was personal between her and Jack. After she made up her mind, she heard Jack spoke to Seaver.

"How's your agent doing?" Jack was referring to Agent Langford, who was wounded by those IRK extremists not too long ago.

"He's hanging in here...By the way, I want to thank you guys for your assistance. We couldn't have rescued the Russian Foreign Minister in time without your help." Seaver said sincerely to both Jack and Renee.

Jack and Renee simply nodded back at the young CTU agent in appreciation. Although both of them had seen their fair shares of tragedies, especially the ones they failed to stop, like what happened to President Omar Hassan 18 months ago. However, this time, both Jack and Renee were glad that not only they had successfully rescued a high ranking foreign government official from the hands of terrorists; they also managed to keep each other safe throughout the operation. They were proud of that accomplishment the most.

Meanwhile, the attachés from Russian Consulate had arrived at the scene to collect their Foreign Minister. One of men was Sergei Gorlovich, the head of security for the Russian Consulate in Los Angeles. In the world of espionage, the heads of security for foreign consulates often also functioned as covert intelligence operatives working under diplomatic covers. Gorlovich was no exception. Before he was the head of security in Los Angeles' Russian Consulate, he was an operator for Vega group. Therefore, Gorlovich had considerable experience in the game of espionage. As he and two of his men walked towards Minister Lugansky, he quickly scanned his surrounding for any danger. That was when he saw Jack Bauer, who was walking toward the abandoned hotel with an auburn haired woman and a young CTU agent. Although Gorlovich wanted to either capture or exterminate Bauer, he couldn't do so since the area was swarmed with LAPD and CTU agents. After Gorlovich spoke with one of the CTU agent, the CTU agent then brought Minister Lugansky to him. He and two of his men quickly escorted the Russian Foreign Minister to the limousine. As Gorlovich opened the limousine door for his Foreign Minister, he spoke to him on the matter of Jack Bauer.

"Sir, I just saw Jack Bauer nearby. With your authorization I would like to post one of my men here to keep an eye on him while I assemble an extraction team..."

"Leave him. Right now Bauer is not our primary concern. We got a bigger situation on our hands. Get me a secure phone now so I can call Moscow!" Lugansky ordered urgently, and then he entered the limousine.

"Understood, sir." Gorlovich said as he closed the limousine door. Although he didn't agree with Lugansky's order concerning Jack Bauer, he still complied without any objection. He also wondered about the situation his Foreign Minister mentioned. Judging from Lugansky's tone, it sounded very serious. Gorlovich thought he will probably find that out very soon once the Foreign Minister finished his call to Moscow.

**10:52:37**

After hearing the news about the Russian Foreign Minister's successful rescue, President Hayworth, his chief of staff Derek Watts, and Ethan Kanin were relieved. They knew that they just prevented a major international incident from turning into a full-blown war between Russian and IRK. President Hayworth was glad that the US-Russia relation won't degrade further since Minister Lugansky wasn't executed by those IRK extremists on US soil. However, because of those IRK extremists' actions, the tension between Russia and IRK continued to skyrocket as the relation between those two nations continued to spiral downward. He knew now it was almost impossible to have the Russians withdrawing their forces around IRK border. Therefore, Hayworth realized that he needed Ethan Kanin around to help his administration de-escalating the tension between Russia and IRK, hence preserving the region's stability. However, Hayworth also realized that he had deceived Ethan about the Russians letting Jack Bauer off the hook, and knowing Ethan, it was just a matter of time before he finds out about it. As a result, President Hayworth couldn't decide whether or not he should ask Ethan to stick around. As he tried to make up his mind, his chief of staff interrupted his train of thought.

"Sir, I think you should call President Suvarov..." Derek reminded the President.

President Hayworth nodded. That was what he was gonna do that within the minutes, but he needed to talk to Ethan first. Therefore, Hayworth turned his attention to Ethan. "Ethan, I know we don't see eye to eye on some issues in the past, but I need your help with the current situation between Russia and IRK. We need to prevent this flashpoint from heating up further... You've known the people from both sides during the peace treaty, so I think can help us get to Russians and Kamistanis back to the negotiation table." Hayworth said. Considering the current situation, he needed all the helps he could get in order to de-escalate the tension. Hayworth thought he could probably keep Ethan in the dark about the Russians still going after Jack Bauer. If Ethan found out then he will just blame the Russians for not keeping their words.

Upon hearing what President Hayworth said, Hayworth's chief of the staff, Derek Watts, became even a bit more concerned. Although he understood that they needed Ethan Kanin's help since both Russians and Kamistanis trusted him, Derek wasn't sure what will happen if Kanin found out about Jack Bauer, but he knew it's not gonna be good for him and his boss. However, his boss already pulled a fast one on Kanin by telling that old fart the Russians will drop their vendetta against Jack Bauer, so there was no reason to believe that his boss couldn't handle Kanin. Therefore, he decided not to object President Hayworth's decision.

"I'll be glad to help, Mr. President." Ethan said. He was willing to help because he knew what will happen if the current situation between Russia and IRK continued, and it's just a matter of time before Russia decided to invade IRK in retaliation for those terrorist attacks. "However, there is a matter I want to discuss with you first. Jack Bauer had recovered their Foreign Minister, so are the Russians gonna drop their charges against him?"

"Yes..." Without giving away any suspicion, Hayworth lied straight to Ethan's face. "But Suvarov is keeping the information discrete for the moment. You know the current political climate inside Kremlin is right now. Suvarov couldn't afford to offend some of the hardliners inside his government..."

After hearing President Hayworth's explanation, Ethan simply nodded understandingly, but he also started to get a bit suspicious. He knew there was a possibility that Suvarov might not keep his end of the bargain. He also knew Hayworth probably won't try to push the matter since he didn't want to damage the US-Russian relationship he had been trying to repair. Therefore, Ethan wanted to ask President Hayworth for some evidences of assurance that indicated the Russians are going to let Jack Bauer off their hooks. However, right before he opened his mouth, the President's secretary called, saying Tim Woods was here to see the President and it was very urgent. As expected, the President let his Secretary of Homeland Security into the Oval Office.

"Sir, I have some bad news..." Tim Woods said ominously while tried to remain professional. "Russia just launched their military offenses against IRK...There has been reports of Russian ballistic missile attacks on 3 of the IRK cities as well as naval engagements, and Russian bomber squadrons are currently heading towards IRK border..."

"Dear God..." Ethan was absolutely shocked and almost speechless. He knew the Russians were angry at IRK due to the terrorist attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago and the kidnapping of their Foreign Minister. Although Ethan expected some sabre rattling from the Russians, he did not expect them to go as far as launching a full scale military campaign against IRK. As he turned his attention to the President and his chief of the staff, Ethan also saw both of them were completely shocked by this sudden turn of event. _How the hell could it have happened?_ Ethan thought worriedly.

**10:56:01**

"As expected, Karim Zahir is dead, but the bomb didn't go off as planned." Kessler reported to his employer using a heavily encrypted phone. Unknown the best to Karim Zahir and his band of IRK extremists, Kessler actually had rigged the abandoned hotel with hidden explosives before the IRK extremists occupied that place. The plan was to blown up the hotel with both IRK extremists and the authorities inside while those extremists were broadcasting the Russian Foreign Minister's execution, hence making it looks like the IRK extremists martyred themselves by blown themselves up as the authorities closed in on their position. With the IRK extremists and Russian Foreign Minister dead, their tracks will be covered. No one will know they stole the Module 67 from the Russian Foreign Minister and the authorities will think the raid on the FBI field office was the act of those IRK extremists. However, since the bomb didn't go off, Kessler wanted to know what his employer's next course of action is regarding to this sudden change of event. To his surprise, his employer seemed to be quite calm about that.

"It doesn't matter, the Russians will think the IRK is now in possession of Module 67, so the operation has not yet been compromised..." General Rawlins calmly explained to Kessler. The beauty of his plan was that even if the bomb didn't kill the Russian Foreign Minister, he will probably think it was the Kamistani who got the Module 67. As for Karim Zahir, General Rawlins knew he was a single-minded fanatic, which made him quite easy to manipulate. Rawlins had been using Kessler as a proxy in order to steer Zahir and his band of fanatics to the direction he wanted. As expected, Zahir and his band of IRK extremists played right into his hand with their intention of broadcasting the Russian Foreign Minister's execution live on the internet. Since Zahir's profile indicated he was a fanatical who was willing to martyr himself for his cause, Rawlins also expected him to do so. However, if he wasn't dead, Kessler had a team near the abandoned hotel ready to eliminate Zahir and any loose end that could potentially connect the extremists to Kessler and his men. Content with the current situation, General Rawlins figured it was time they move forward. "The primary target is eliminated and Russia is now at war against the IRK. Our primary objectives in Phase 2 have been completed. We're initiating Phase 3. When will the module become functional?"

"We're still decrypting it, sir. I'll let you know once we cracked the encryption and integrated it to our systems." Kessler stated in his usual cold and professional demeanour.

"Good. Keep me posted." The General said, and then he hanged up and continued to watch LCD TV screen which displayed the map of IRK with huge amount of geopolitical data in various pop-ups. He thought despite the things didn't go well this morning, Kirilenko was now dead nevertheless. General Rawlins knew Kirilenko had to be taken out. He assumed Kirilenko did his due diligence and eliminated every possible loose end that could prove IRK wasn't responsible for the attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago, so that leaves Kirilenko as the only one that could prove that since he was the one who orchestrated the attack. Therefore, General Rawlins needed Kirilenko taken out so there is no way to stop the ongoing war between Russia and IRK which was essential to Rawlin's plan. _The dead man can't speak for the crime he had committed..._ He figured. Right now, with Kirilenko dead, Russia is at war with IRK, and the Module 67 in his possession, General Rawlins couldn't help but to let out a grin. He was glad that everything was working according to his plan...

**10:59:57...10:59:58...10:59:59...11:00:00**

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**Hope you guys enjoy the story. Please let me know what you think :)**

**Some Random Thoughts and Ramblings**

"_**This is for the record...**_**" **Okay, by the end of this chapter, I know what some of you guys might be thinking, and I'll admit it. I did borrow the twist in the end of this chapter, along with some plot elements, from a certain entry of a certain popular franchise (Yeah, it's that one). Truth to be told, I like that twist in that certain entry from that certain franchise, which is why I borrow it. However, I do agree there are some narrative problems and gaping plot holes leading up to the twist in the said entry in that franchise. Therefore, that's why I will try to make my own spin on that twist. If you guys don't know I'm talking about, then it's okay. Just please excuse and ignore my ramblings above... Anyway, back to General Rawlins. When I was writing the prologue I already planned him as the main antagonist of the story. It was planned from the very beginning. I know a lot of things about Rawlins and his plan might seem unclear right away, but I will definitely go over it in future chapters (His plan was actually complex). I hope I did a somewhat acceptable job on that making it not too forced since I wasn't really confident about writing a complex plan and twist before...

**Minister Lugansky's rescue:** Okay, I'll also admit I used the last 30 minutes of "The Kingdom" as reference for the actions scenes. And I also hope I didn't really go way too over the top on Jack and Renee's badassness (LOL). Sometimes I do feel I laid it too thick, but I hope it is acceptable to some degree since "24" does have some crazy actions scenes.


	17. 11:00PM 12:00AM

_**Author's Note:**_

_Okay, first of all, I really sorry for taking such long time to update the story. Truth to be told, life has been super crazy for me lately, and to make the matters worse, I actually had quite a few really, really bad cases of writer's blocks (which I will explain in detail at the end of this chapter). Some of the stuff in this chapter are also quite complex and I hope I did a decent job on it._

_Again, I want to thank all of you for taking the time to read the story and write the reviews, and I want to thank all of the readers for your support. You guys really rock!_

_Anyway, enough with my rambling, that's roll the tape!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P_

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**This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.**

**Previously on 24**

After being told by Erik Kessler that CTU TAC team was coming, Karim Zahir desperately asked Kessler for his assistance. Kessler then suggested Zahir to start the broadcast of the execution of the Russian Foreign Minister, Seymon Lugansky over the internet. He also gave Zahir the real-time coordinate of CTU TAC team and suggested Zahir to launch an attack on the incoming CTU TAC team in order to buy him some timet. As expected, Zahir ordered one of his cells to ambush the incoming CTU convoy and managed to take out nearly all of the CTU TAC team. However, Jack Bauer, Renee Walker, and Evan Seaver, the CTU's director of field ops, survived the ambush and managed to fight off the IRK extremists trying to kill them. Knowing the IRK extremists had started their broadcast, Jack, Renee, and Seaver had no choice but to continued the rescue operation all by themselves. As they battled through Zahir's men, Renee managed to take out Zahir, rescue the Minister Lugansky, and stop the live broadcast. However, After rescuing the Russian Foreign Minister, Jack discovered there was a bomb inside the abandoned hotel. As Seaver rushed the Russian Foreign Minister out of the abandoned hotel, Renee, knowing there was no time for them to get out, tried to disarm the explosives much to Jack's dismay. Fortunately, Renee managed to defuse the bomb in the nick of time, hence resolving the crisis. After the crisis was resolved, Ethan Kanin decided to ask President Hayworth about the matter of Russia government dropping charges against Jack, since Jack had helped CTU recovered their Foreign Minister. However, before Ethan could inquire about the matter further, Tim Woods, the Secretary of Homeland Security, informed the President and Ethan that Russia launched a full scale military invasion against IRK...

At the same time, Kessler updated his employer on the overall situation concerning CTU, Karim Zahir, and the Russian Foreign Minister. As it turned out, his employer was no other than General Rawlins...

**The following takes place between 11:00PM and 12:00AM**

**11:02:54**

_W-where am I...?_ That was the first thought that came to Sarah Ferris' mind after she was slowly roused by the rhythmic beeping of the BP monitor on her right. At the moment, her memories were still one giant blur. Everything was hazy to her and she couldn't remember what happened. As she slowly woke up, her senses began coming back as well. At first, Sarah couldn't make out the blur shapes she was seeing, but after a short while, she began to recognize her surroundings. It looked like she was in a hospital room. _How did I... _Before Sarah could finish her thought, she began to feel the pain in her lower left abdomen as she tried to move her body. It was now obvious to Sarah that she was injured somehow and now she was in hospital. As she tried to make sense to all of this, Sarah saw a woman in scrubs on her left.

"How are you feeling, Agent Ferris?" The nurse asked.

"How did I..." Despite feeling absolutely terrible, Sarah wanted to know what the hell happened.

"You were shot..." The nurse said as she flipped the pages on her chart. "Fortunately, the bullet didn't hit any major organs..."

Suddenly, memories of the past few hours began flooding back to her. She remembered getting shot by those mercenaries, being used as a leverage to force Renee out of the barricaded interrogation room, being rescued by Jack Bauer, giving Jack the information he needed to send a help message out, and being tended by Renee before she completely passed out knowing that she was not gonna make it. _Oh God...Renee! Jack!_ The thought violently jolted Sarah awake from her slumbering state. Realizing what had happened, she tried to sit up as she wondered whether or not both Renee and Jack were alright. However, the pain from her wound prevented her from doing so. She simply let out a groan as she felt the pain.

"Easy, honey..." The nurse said after watching the young FBI agent suddenly became worried about something. "You need to rest..."

"I...I need to talk to someone from the FBI..." Sarah pleaded. As soon as she finished her sentence, she realized that since she was in the hospital, which meant Jack somehow managed to send the distress signal. However, that still didn't put Sarah's mind at ease as she continued to worry about Renee and Jack. Therefore, she was eager to find out what happened to them.

"Actually, there's a CTU agent outside who is quite eager to speak with you. "The nurse said. Truth to be told she wanted her patient to get some rest first as oppose to being disturbed by some CTU agent.

_CTU?_ At first Sarah wondered what a CTU agent was doing here. However, considering the high profile nature of the attack, it made sense for dozens of Federal agencies to be involved in the investigation. Therefore, Sarah decided to talk to the CTU agent since she thought CTU might shed some light on some of her questions. "Can you send him in, please..." She said hoarsely.

"Okay." The nurse simply nodded and then went out of the room to fetch the CTU agent waiting outside. Moments later, a man came into the room.

"Agent Ferris." The CTU agent said as he showed Sarah his credential. "Agent Caffrey, CTU. I just want to ask you some questions about the incident that happened earlier at the FBI field office..."

"Renee Walker and Jack Bauer...Are they alright?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"They're fine. Both of them are currently working with CTU at the moment. In fact, they just rescued the Russian Foreign Minister from IRK extremists..."

Sarah was extremely glad and relieved to hear that both Jack and Renee were alright, but she was also shocked and confused by what the CTU agent told her. Suddenly, more questions started popping up inside her head. _Why are Jack and Renee working with CTU? And the Russian Foreign Minister was kidnapped by IRK extremists?_ The latter question confused Sarah the most. Therefore, she asked promptly. "Wait...how did IRK extremists kidnap the Russian Foreign Minister? Is it related to the attack on the FBI field office?"

Agent Caffrey knew the young FBI agent was in surgery in the past two hours so he quickly briefed Sarah after he saw her confused look. "We believe the men who attacked the FBI field office are mercenaries those IRK extremists hired. It seemed they extracted the Russian Foreign Minister from the FBI field office and handed him to the IRK extremists. Those extremists then decided to use him to leverage the Russians to withdraw their forces around the IRK border. " Agent Caffrey stated, and then he showed Sarah the IRK extremists' internet broadcast on his smart phone. "Fortunately, CTU managed to put a stop to that..."

After watching the broadcast, Sarah was even more shocked. However, she also thought that something wasn't right. She thought if those IRK extremists did hired those mercenaries, why did they wanted to eliminate the evidence that could exonerated their country from the terrorist attack that happened in Moscow 3 weeks ago? However, as she pondered her thoughts about this, she suddenly remembered that her boss was with the Russian Foreign Minister at the time. _Oh no... _Fear for the worst, Sarah quickly asked. "I think my boss, Special Agent Stan Hoffman, was with the Russian Foreign Minister at the time of the attack...Is he okay?" She sincerely hoped her boss survived that horrifying attack.

The CTU agent's face turned grim after the young FBI agent mentioned the special agent in charge of the LA field office. "I'm sorry, Agent Ferris. Agent Hoffman was killed during the assault..."

Sarah was completely shocked and dumbfounded after she heard the bad news about her boss. _No...No...This is not possible...this is not possible..._ She simply shook her head in denial as her eyes began to water. Sarah thought Hoffman was tough on rules and regulations, but he was fair, and he had always tried to look after his subordinates. She actually respected that. However, upon thinking about their last conversation, which ended up with her storming out of Hoffman's office. Sarah became even more saddened and distraught. She wished she could take back those angry thoughts in her head at the moment she stormed out of her boss' office. Sarah's face darkened as her tear began rolled down her cheeks.

"Un...Agent Ferris, if you're not up for it, we can always do the debrief later." Agent Caffery said after he noticed Sarah's saddened expression accompanied with her tears.

The CTU agent's voice seemed to pull Sarah out of her grieving and into equally unforgiving cold reality, but she was still in the state of distraught. She just couldn't believe that Hoffman was dead. Although she really didn't want to do the debrief at the moment, she thought the least she could do right now to honor Hoffman's demise was to tell CTU what had happened back at the FBI field office and help CTU find those bastards who did this. Therefore, after using all her will power to compose herself, Sarah looked up at the CTU agent with her much saddened eyes. She then spoke again. "So what do you want to know, Agent Caffrey?"

**11:10:39**

**White House Situation Room**

"Around 0200 Eastern Time, Russians has mobilized all of their offensive forces deployed around the IRK border and initiated attacks against all IRK military installations near the border. So far, there has been reports of Russians launching their ballistic missiles at IRK military installations as well as IRK cities..." General Vincent briefed, and then he pointed to the giant screen inside the situation room, where a map of IRK was displayed. There are also numbers of military unit icons being displayed on the map as well, representing the movements of both Russian and IRK forces they have been tracking through satellites. "As you can see, the Russia's black sea fleet are already engaging the IRK navy. There are also several Russian fighter squadrons entering the IRK airspace. The IRK is mobilizing their fighters to intercept them as well. The Russians are trying to gain control of both air and sea so they can deploy their ground forces without facing serious opposition from IRK..."

"Dear God..." President Hayworth muttered in disbelief as he watched the situation unfold on the giant screen. Right now, with the Russia attacking IRK in full force, all of the efforts he and his administration spent on negotiating with the Russians were going down the drain. _What the hell? We recovered their Foreign Minister from those IRK extremists, and yet they still attack the IRK? Goddamnit..._ Hayworth thought angrily. He the escalation of this crisis would make him and his administration looks bad considering his and his administration's rapprochement stance with the Russians in exchange for regional stability.

At the same time, Ethan, although still in disbelief, knew that he needed remain calm and try to deal with this unexpected turn of event. He needed to get all of the information he can before he could formulate a plan. However, there was something that troubling Ethan the most. Something he needed to know first. He turned to Tim Woods, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and asked.

"Has President Hassan been evacuated?" Ethan knew that President Dalia Hassan and her daughter Kayla had been through a lot, and he hoped they were alright.

"There's no word on the whereabouts of President Hassan and her family at the moment..." Tim Woods replied.

After hearing what Tim Woods said, Ethan's expression became grim. However, he still believed that Dalia Hassan was probably at somewhere safe. He knew he had to put his worries aside for now and focus on the crisis at the hand first.

At the same time, Derek Watts, President's chief of staff, quickly throw out a suggestion to President Hayworth. "Sir, I think maybe we should consider letting the situation plays itself out. Traditionally speaking, IRK is not really an ally in the region. Their governments have been antagonizing us throughout the decades. Besides, considering what happened in Moscow 3 weeks ago and what happened an hour ago, it's hard to support Dalia Hassan's regime without making us looks bad...Plus, we might even use this opportunity to leverage the Russians for future favors..."

Ethan just couldn't believe what Derek just said. The chief of staff was essentially suggesting that they threw Dalia Hassan and her government under the bus in exchange for diplomatic favors with the Russians. As expected, he voiced his objection.

"Mr. President. If we abandoned Dalia Hassan's government, we'll be essentially sending a message to our allies stating that we'll abandon them in their times of needs. Plus, we all know that the Hassan administration wasn't responsible for those terrorist attacks. It's the extremists and the radical elements within IRK who are responsible..."

"Then what do you suggest us to do, Mr. Kanin. Start a war with Russia?" Derek countered sharply.

"I still believe it's possible to resolve this conflict diplomatically. If the international community starts calling for a ceasefire between Russia and IRK, there's a chance Russia might oblige." Ethan suggested.

"Mr. Kanin, what makes you so certain that the international community can successfully pressure Russia into agreeing to a ceasefire? Right now, the Russians have the probable cause for taking military actions against IRK, and international community might see it that way..." Derek stated.

_Probable cause..._ As Ethan thought about those two words, a rough idea started to form inside his head. Although it was a rough idea and it might be a very long shot at best, Ethan still willing to consider it since the situation was already quite bad. He thought before he could go further with the idea, he needed to take a look at the reports concerning the terrorist attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago.

As Ethan Kanin and Derek Watts continued to argue, President Hayworth began to think about both of their arguments. He thought Derek Watts' suggestion was quite tempting, considering they could use this war to leverage some diplomatic favors which they might need in the future. However, by letting the war between Russia and IRK happened, it would definitely undercut his administration's past efforts on maintaining that region's stability, hence leaving a less-than desirable legacy for his administration. Therefore, President Hayworth decided to keep Derek's suggestion as the last option. He also thought about Ethan's suggestion about bringing the international community into the picture. It was definitely a more sensible solution, but as Derek said, the international community might not see it that way. _Maybe we can negotiate with the Russians directly and convince them to sign a ceasefire with IRK..._ He thought. Just as President Hayworth continued pondering his thoughts, an aide walked into the situation room and informed the President that they're now uplinked to a conference call with Kremlin. President Hayworth nodded as the aide activated the conference phone on the table.

"Mr. Suvarov, what is going on?" The President asked directly. "We already recovered Minister Lugansky safely from the IRK extremists, and I know you want to punish those who had hands in this, but don't you think it's premature to invade IRK..."

"Mr. Hayworth, Let me remind you that millions were dead because of that attack 3 weeks ago, and as of now, those IRK operatives have humiliated us through that live internet broadcast. Russian honor has been insulted and we simply cannot let it stand." Suvarov told President Hayworth over the phone in a very firm tone. Also inside the Russian President's office were various aides and officials. Upon hearing what President Suvarov said, some of hard-liners simply nodded in approval. "This is strictly a matter between Russia and Islamic Republic of Kamistan. If the United States tries to intercede militarily on the IRK's behalf, we will have no choice to take actions against your military as well." Suvarov warned, and then he hanged up. He did not want a war with IRK, but unfortunately, the situation had forced his hands.

President Suvarov's sudden change to the hard-line stance actually shocked President Hayworth and literally left him speechless for a moment. _What the hell is with him?_ He thought. He knew as of now, direct negotiations with the Russians was out of question. _Damn it... _President Hayworth figured that he might have to take Ethan's advice. As sporadic mutters and quiet chatters started to erupt inside the situation room, he spoke again.

"Raise the DEFCON level to DEFCON 3." The President ordered. Although he did not want to provoke the Russians, it was standard procedure. "I'm gonna speak with our European allies, see what they have to say about the current crisis..."

Ethan was glad that the President was heeding his advice. He knew it was the right way to try to resolve the situation diplomatically through international community's mediation first. He also knew that he needed to start working on the rough idea he had earlier. He quickly turned to Tim Woods and asked for reports of the terrorists attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago, hoping he could find something useful in those reports...

**11:23:02**

Right now, General Rawlins was quite content about the current situation. Despite there were couple of things that didn't work out as he planned or anticipated, like any brilliant military leaders, he had quickly adapted to the changing circumstances in the past hours by modifying his plans accordingly. As a result, all of the objectives in Phase 1 and 2 of his operation were completed and they were proceeding to Phase 3 without any foreseeable problem.

General Rawlins actually had prior knowledge of what Kirilenko was up to before Kirilenko conducted his false flag operation 3 weeks ago. Therefore, Rawlins anticipated that Kirilenko's covert actions would further increase the already existing tension between Russia and IRK, hence paving the way for a possible all-out war between the two countries. That actually suited General Rawlins because he knew he could take advantage of the situation to further his goals. So rather than notifying the authorities on Kirilenko and the attack, Rawlins decided to let Kirilenko's false flag operation plays out to its foreseeable conclusion. As a result, Kirilenko unknowing became one of the pawns on Rawlins' chessboard. Kirilenko had absolutely no idea that his brilliant plan only serves as a clog in machination of a man who was literally unknown to him. As expected, after the Kirilenko successfully executed his false flag operation, Moscow thought it was IRK who sponsored the attack and the tension between Russia and IRK were at all time high. This was most evident by the fact that Russia had mobilized their offensive military forces towards IRK border. At that time, Rawlins thought with all of the tensions, the Russians would eventually launch a military campaign against IRK, hence laying the ground work for his endgame.

After Kirilenko pulled off his false flag operation, Rawlins assumed Kirilenko did his due diligence and had eliminated all the evidence that could prove the attack was his works instead of the works of IRK operatives. Therefore, Rawlins figured the only loose end left was Kirilenko himself. He thought by eliminating the mastermind of that false flag operation, it would further ensure the truth behind that terrorist attack in Moscow stayed buried as the tension between Russia and IRK continued to soar. Originally, Rawlins wanted to mount a covert op to take out Kirilenko in Russia, but just as the luck had it, Kirilenko was part of Russian Foreign Minister's delegation coming to Los Angeles for the crisis talk between US, Russia, and IRK. Rawlins figured that actually presented a unique opportunity: an opportunity that would not only allow him to take out Kirilenko, but it would also speed things up for his grand schemes. Therefore, Rawlins quickly came up with Phase 2 of his battle plans.

The Phase 2 of Rawlins' operation consisted of several primary objectives: Eliminate Nicholai Kirilenko, Extracting the Russian Foreign Minister and handing him over to the IRK extremists, and obtaining Module 67. The latter objectives were derived from the first objective simply because the opportunities presented themselves. For the objective of eliminating Kirilenko, Rawlins knew he had to take out Kirilenko without arousing any suspicions. Rawlins figured it was better to use someone with a grudge against Kirilenko to assassinate him so that the assassination would not be traced back to him. He figured Jack Bauer was the perfect candidate for the job. Considering Kirilenko's involvement in that Russian conspiracy 18 months ago and Jack's desire for revenge against those who were involved in that conspiracy, Rawlins knew if he pushed Jack's buttons, Jack would willingly volunteer to take out Kirilenko. Therefore, he purposely mentioned former IRK President Omar Hassan and former FBI agent Renee Walker in their meeting this morning, knowing such painful reminders would not only solidify Jack's desire for vengeance, but it would also drive him to take out Kirilenko. Once Jack Bauer took out Kirilenko in the Hilbert Grand Hotel, Rawlins knew the security details would try to evacuate the VIPs, including the Russian Foreign Minister, to safe havens like military base or foreign consulates. He also knew that the motorcade carrying the Russian Foreign Minister will take the secondary evacuation route due to the fact that a member of the Russian delegation was assassinated. Therefore, General Rawlins had Kessler and his mercenaries set up an ambush along the secondary evacuation path of the Russian Foreign Minister's motorcade for the purposes of extracting the Russian Foreign Minister and the Module 67 which the Russian Foreign Minister was carrying. Rawlins had used Kessler and his men for various wet work operations in Europe in the past. He knew Kessler and his men were very capable professionals who could handle themselves. Plus, Rawlins also knew Kessler had an asset inside the Russian delegation's security detail: an FSO agent named Petrovich, whom Kessler turned into a double agent by using his wife and daughter as leverage. Therefore, Rawlins was confident that this part of the operation would go smoothly.

Once Kessler's men extracted the Russian Foreign Minister, they would hand the Russian Foreign Minister to a band of IRK terrorists led by Karim Zahir, whom Kessler had been stringing along under Rawlins' orders. Rawlins figured Karim Zahir was easy to manipulate since fanatics like him only put his hatred over any form of logic. Therefore, knowing that Zahir wanted to strike back at Russia, Rawlins prepared a scenario for him. He would have Kessler's mercenaries bring them the Russian Foreign Minister, hence doing all of the heavy lifting for them. Rawlins also figured that once Zahir had the Russian Foreign Minister, he would broadcast their demands live on the internet. It was their MO. By doing so, Zahir would be essentially taking credit for the abduction of the Russian Foreign Minister, hence allowing Kessler to remain in the shadow. Unfortunate for Zahir, Rawlins' planned scenario actually had he and his men blown up during their live internet broadcast of the Russian Foreign Minister's execution and making it looked like CTU cornered Zahir and Zahir martyred himself. The plan will not only cover up the theft of Module 67, but it will also ignite an all-out war between Russia and IRK simply because the IRK terrorists killed the Russian Foreign Minister.

Originally, Rawlins planned to finish the second phase of his operation within the morning. However, he did not anticipate Kirilenko to have plans of his own. He simply did not anticipate Kirilenko to have his goons assassinated the IRK Foreign Minister, and somehow, probably by some dumb luck, managed to frame Jack Bauer for it. As a result of that, his entire operation came to a halt since the Russian Foreign Minister, along with the rest of Russian delegation, took the primary evacuation route to the Russian Consulate as oppose to the secondary evacuation route where Kessler's men had prepared their ambush. With Kirilenko and the Russian Foreign Minister safely inside the Russian Consulate, Rawlins knew he had to alter some aspect of his plans in order for his operation to continue. First, he basically let Jack continue carrying out the objective of eliminating Kirilenko. Knowing Jack and what he had done to those Russian conspirators 18 months ago, Rawlins figured Jack would not stop until Kirilenko is dead. Since Jack Bauer was taking care of the aspect about eliminating Kirilenko, Rawlins was free to focus on the another primary objective of his operation: extracting the Russian Foreign Minister and handing him over to the IRK extremists. He actually considered having Kessler's men extract the Russian Foreign Minister when he and his delegation are leaving for the airport. However, the circumstances changed once again. Jack had failed to take out Kirilenko and both of them were apprehended by the FBI. After learning that the Russian Foreign Minister was heading to the FBI field office to bail out Kirilenko and to take Jack Bauer into the Russian government's custody, Rawlins thought it was another opportunity he could use to salvage his operation. Therefore, he modified his plans again. He tasked Kessler and his mercenaries to attack the FBI field office with three objectives in mind. The first objective was to take out Kirilenko. The second objective was to extract the Russian Foreign Minister, along with Module 67 he was carrying. The third objective was to extract data relevant to the Kirilenko case from those the servers in the FBI field office and destroy the servers once they were done downloading the data. The purpose of the third objective was to make sure the truth about the attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago stays buried. Rawlins also considered to have Kessler's men eliminate Jack to tie up the loose end, but he decided against it in the end because what Jack knew about him or his operation was very tangential at best. Therefore, Rawlins did not care about whether or not Jack survives Kessler's assault.

Despite being deployed in such short notice, Kessler and his mercenaries was able to complete those objectives and got his plan back on track. They continued with their original plan by handing the Russian Foreign Minister over to Zahir's men. At the same time, Rawlins manufactured the evidence concerning the whereabouts of Zahir's men and prepared to hand it over to CTU. Rawlins knew that people tended not to trust information they could easily get, especially in the case of intelligence gathering. The trick was to make it looked like CTU had to work at it to get the information, but not to overdo it so CTU couldn't obtain the planted information in time. That why he fabricated the whole story about special force obtaining the IRK terrorists' encrypted laptop in Mosul. He knew CTU would find the Zahir's location from those encrypted data he had given them. In addition to that, after lerning that Kessler's men had neutralized the CTU's drone, Rawlins figured it was another opportunity he could exploit to his advantage, so he called CTU and offered to let them use the drones under his command. However, unknown best to CTU, Rawlins actually ordered the technicians who were loyal to him to covertly install backdoor programs inside the CTU's system by using system integration as a ruse. As a result, not only Rawlins and Kessler were able to monitor CTU's actions from the drones, they also had complete access to CTU's systems. That was how Kessler was able to tip Zahir off about CTU's rescue operation as well as giving him real-time location data on CTU's strike team. That way, if the situation took an unexpected turn, Rawlins and Kessler could easily and quickly modifies their plans accordingly based on CTU's actions.

After CTU's rescue operation concluded, Rawlins got the news that the bomb inside the abandoned hotel did not go off during the CTU assault and killed Zahir, the Russian Foreign Minister, and the CTU agents who were inside the abandoned hotel as he expected. Nevertheless, Zahir was dead nevertheless and his broadcast had already caused Russia to invade IRK in full force, and most importantly, the Russian Foreign Minister probably thought IRK operatives stole the Module 67. In addition, with Kirilenko dead, the truth about the attack will stay buried. Therefore, all of the primary objectives in Phase 2 were now completed. Rawlins thought despite the turbulent processes, now everything was back on track and back in his favor. As he continued gleefully thinking about how Phase 3 will play out, all of the sudden, a knock interrupted his train of thoughts. Knowing it was probably his aide, he simply told his aide to come into his office.

"Sir, I have some bad news." Lieutenant Shaw reported professionally. "As I was going over the data Kessler and his men extracted from the FBI field office and I found something that can possibly compromise our operation."

"What have you found, Lieutenant?" Rawlins asked curiously. Despite he was slightly annoyed by such sudden appearance of another issue that could potentially derail his plan, Rawlins quickly put his annoyance aside and focus on how to deal the unexpected issue quickly.

"There is someone who actually knows Kirilenko was behind the terrorist attack in Moscow..." Lieutenant Shaw stated as he inserted a flash drive into the USB port of the giant LCD TV screen in the General's office. Instantly, Renee Walker's picture and files popped up on the TV screen. "Meet Renee Walker. According to the files from the FBI server, she is a former FBI agent who had participated in an UC op against a Russian organized crime group in New York City. During the course of the operation, she somehow obtained the knowledge that Kirilenko was running a nerve gas production facility in Kazakhstan. She knows the type of nerve gas used in the attack in Moscow is the same type that produced by Kirilenko's facility. This Renee Walker can link the attack to Kirilenko..."

"I thought Renee Walker died 18 months ago." General Rawlins said. Although he did not know much about Renee, from various rumors he had heard, Rawlins knew she was someone close to Jack and her death was the cause of Jack Bauer's rampage in New York City 18 months ago. Knowing this, Rawlins was able to use this information to push Jack's button, hence solidifying Jack's desire on taking out Kirilenko to avenge Renee Walker's death.

"Actually, sir, she is very much alive. Among those files Kessler's men recovered, there is a document that mentioned witness protection, and attached to that document is an audio log. It was dated a few hours ago." After Lieutenant Shaw pulled out the file and audio log he mentioned on screen, he quickly played the audio log for General Rawlins. The audio log was actually Renee's debrief.

Upon hearing Renee mentioning Kirilenko and his nerve gas production facility in Kazakhstan, General Rawlins signalled his aide to stop playing the audio log. He had heard enough to know that Renee Walker was alive and she now became a threat that needed to be eliminated. However, by taking out Renee Walker, Rawlins figured such action will put him on a collision course with Jack Bauer. Remembering what happened to those Russians who tried to do the same thing 18 months ago, Rawlins knew that was not a wise move. However, on the other hand, Renee Walker needed to be eliminated. Therefore, Rawlins became quite worried about the choice he has to make.

"Sir, we need to take out Walker before she can disclose what she knows to CTU or the White House, hence compromising the Phase 2 of our op..." Lieutenant Shaw suggested.

"Lieutenant, remember what happened to the former Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Novakovich 18 months ago?" Rawlins asked his aide rhetorically. "If we take her out, Bauer is gonna be gunning for us. Not only is he gonna destroy everything we have accomplished so far, he's gonna end us..."

"Then we'll take him out too..."

The General remained silent as he was still contemplating on how to handle the situation. Right after FBI arrested Jack, General Rawlins had considered that Jack Bauer had exceeded his usefulness to him and his operation. The thought of eliminating Jack Bauer had crossed his mind, but knowing what Bauer was capable of, Rawlins thought it was not worth the effort going after him. Bauer had no knowledge of his involvement in the in the raid on FBI field office and the subsequent kidnapping of Russian Foreign Minister since he had kept things compartmentalized. However, right now, due to Renee Walker, Rawlins knew if he tried to take out Walker, he had to deal with Jack, and if he failed to take out Jack, then Jack will definitely strike back and possibly try to expose his operation. Just as Rawlins was trying to think of a way to handle the situation, he remembered an oriental proverb: crisis meant opportunity. He suddenly figured out a way to turn the current situation into his favor.

"Taking Bauer out is not a good move. If we failed to take out Bauer then he will come after us and he will dismantle our operation. That's the risk we can't afford right now. Bauer is what I considered a valuable operation asset. We might need him in the future once Phase 3 is completed...assuming we can string him along again." Rawlins stated. "However, we still need to eliminate Walker. We need to do it without arousing Bauer's suspicion that we have a hand in this..."

"Sir, what do you suggesting?" Lieutenant Shaw asked curiously, wondering what his boss' next move was.

"Kessler already has a team deployed near Zahir's location. Have them taken out Walker, and then we make it look like the Russians ordered the hit on her..." Rawlins said. Not only it eliminated a witness that could stop the war between Russia and IRK, it also allowed him to further string Jack Bauer along, essentially turning Jack into his guided missile. Rawlins predicted that once Walker was taken out, Bauer will definitely want to seek retribution against whoever kills her. Rawlins figured he can play on Jack's desire for revenge and point him to whatever directions he wants. "Let me know as soon as Walker is taken care of."

"Understood, sir, I'll contact Kessler and coordinate things with him." Lieutenant Shaw replied. He still didn't understand why his boss couldn't just order the hit on Bauer, but knowing the General, Lieutenant Shaw thought he probably had other plans for Bauer, so he decided not to push it. "Is there anything else, sir?"

"No. That's all for now, dismissed."

**11:34:17**

Inside the abandoned hotel that was formerly Karim Zahir's base of operation, Jack, Renee, and Seaver had been searching for more evidence that might lead them to the mysterious mercenaries who attacked the FBI field office earlier. While other CTU agents continued to process the scene, Jack and Renee came across Zahir's laptop. However, after they opened it, the laptop screen displayed a prompt message that said "Deletion Completed". It was like the message was purposely mocking them for being too late. Little did they know, it was actually Kessler's doing. Kessler's technician managed to wipe Zahir's hard drive remotely to cover their tracks.

"Damn it..." Jack muttered as he continued hitting the laptop's keyboard, hoping something useful would pop up on the laptop screen, but that wasn't the case. "They wiped the hard drive. We need to get this to Chloe. She might be able to salvage some files..."

"Jack, that doesn't make any sense..." Renee said to Jack. "Why wipe the hard drive if you're already gonna martyr yourself by blowing up the entire building?" She simply thought it was overkill, but between the bomb and the wiped hard drive, she simply couldn't shake the feeling that something didn't add up.

Jack nodded. He agreed with Renee. It was overkill even for those IRK extremists. He suspected the wiped hard drive was definitely someone else's doing. _Perhaps people who are behind those mercenaries and those IRK extremists wiped the hard drive remotely..._ He thought. If that was the case, Jack thought whoever behind those mercenaries and those IRK extremists were very careful and very thorough, which means they will definitely want Renee dead if they knew about her. _Damn it..._ Just as Jack started thinking about how to keep Renee safe, Seaver voice interrupted his thought.

"You guys might want to take a look at this..." Seaver said. He wanted Jack and Renee to see what he had discovered in one of the rooms.

After hearing what the young CTU agent said, both Jack and Renee followed him to a room not far away. Upon arriving, what they saw inside the room surprised them. The room was basically the IRK extremists' make-shift armory. There were crates filled with various types of assault rifles and submachine guns, and those weapons were actually quite new, completed with tactical rails installed on their receivers. There were also heavy ordinance like grenades, RPGs, C4 explosives, and even a Russian made SA-18 man-portable surface-to-air missile. The amount of weapons inside the room could literally outfit a small army.

"There is no way those extremists could have gotten that kind of firepower... I think you're right, Jack. Someone is running those extremists..." Suddenly, his cell interrupted him. It was his boss, Director Devlin. Seaver gave both Jack and Renee an 'excuse me' look and answered the phone. He then walked aside to speak with his boss.

"We might need to talk to ATF and Homeland. There is no way for those guys to move all of the hardware without raising any red flag..." Renee suggested. She knew investigating the wherever these weapons coming from will definitely get them closer to whoever was behind those mercenaries and those IRK extremists. Before Renee could continue, she was interrupted by a loud "What" from Seaver. Quickly both Jack and Renee turned to Seaver's direction.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked the young CTU agent.

"Russia just declared war on IRK..." Seaver stated after he finished his conversation with the CTU director. From the looks of it, the young CTU agent was still shocked by the news. "There have been reports of naval engagements and Russians fighters entering IRK airspace..."

After hearing what the young CTU agent said, Both Jack and Renee were completely in shock. _How the hell could that happened? We just rescued the Russian Foreign Minister from those IRK extremists..._ Renee thought as she reacted to the news with complete disbelief. Just as she thought they had prevented a war from happening by stopping those IRK extremists from executing the Russian Foreign Minister, this terrible news came along. However, despite feeling somewhat crushed, Renee knew there was still something she could do to stop the war. Something she should have done a few hours ago.

Jack, on the other hand, was also shocked by the sudden turn of the event. However, because of the new development, he was now absolutely certain that Kirilenko's associates were the people behind those mercenaries and IRK extremists. He thought whether or not their Foreign Minister was rescued, they could easily used this incident as an excuse to push the Russian government to authorize an all out war with IRK since the damage was already being done once those IRK extremists broadcast their demands over the internet. Suddenly, another thought crossed his mind. Since the war between Russia and IRK happened, now the only way to stop the conflict was to prove the attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago was actually the work of Kirilenko rather than IRK operatives, and that meant Renee had to come forward as a witness, hence putting herself in a very dangerous situation. _Damn it..._

"I need to teleconference with my boss so I'll be in the staging area. I'll have the agents take you guys back to CTU once you're finished." Seaver then said, and then he quickly exited the abandoned hotel.

After Seaver left, Renee looked around to make sure no one was nearby, and then she said to Jack. "Jack... Right now I'm the only one that can prove Kirilenko conducted the attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago, not IRK operatives. I need to come forward with what I know. It's our only shot at stopping the situation from getting any worse..."

That was exactly what Jack was afraid of. He knew if Renee did come forward as a witness, she will be essentially painting a giant crosshair on her back, and the people behind those attacks today will come after her, just like what happened that morning 18 months ago. He remembered the horrifying sight of finding her on the floor of his apartment with blood gushing out of her gunshot wound, staining the white sheet she was wrapped in. He remembered trying desperately to get her to the hospital while trying to comfort her at the same time, hoping that she will be okay. He remembered seeing her lying motionlessly on the operating table, and he was still haunted by that horrifying image. Jack knew he couldn't let all of this happen to Renee again, not after what she had been through. After finding out she was alive, he vowed that he will protect her at all cost, even if it meant protecting her from herself. Therefore, Jack said to Renee bluntly. "No, you're not..." However, after saying that, Jack instantly realized that came out a bit harsh. Therefore, he quickly explained. "...Look, once we found the people behind today's attacks, we can prove that the war happened because of their manipulation. You don't need to come forward as a witness and put yourself at risk..."

Renee knew Jack was trying to protect her, and she really appreciated that. However, she couldn't just stand idly by while knowing she had the knowledge that could essentially stop a war between two countries. She simply couldn't live with that. Therefore, Renee protested. "But Jack, by the time we find whoever was behind today's attacks, a lot of people might have perished due to the war. By coming forward I can put a stop to it before..."

"Renee, if you come forward as a witness, the people behind these attacks will come after you, and that's the risk I'm not willing to take." Jack explained. He simply couldn't bear to see Renee putting herself in danger again, especially after seeing her risking her life disarming that bomb. Even though Renee managed to disarm it in the nick of time, Jack was still afraid to think what would have happened if she wasn't able to disarm the bomb.

_How many times do we have to go through with this?_ Renee groaned in her mind. Despite Jack had best intentions for keeping her out of the situation, she was still annoyed because it seemed he kept treating her like some damsel in distress. Not wanting to back down, Renee countered. "So we're gonna let those Kamistani people suffer through a war they didn't start in the first place? Jack, I know what risks are and I can handle those risks..."

It was never Jack's intention to let the war between Russia and IRK happen in the first place, but it happened. Therefore, in order to stop the situation from getting worse, Jack knew the best way was to find the people who were behind the manipulations that led to that war. That, he thought, was the only way to do so without putting Renee at risk. However, Renee didn't seem to see it that way. _Damn it why does she have to be so stubborn... _He knew Renee was capable of handling herself, and she had proven that to him more than once. However, Jack simply couldn't lose her again, not after he found her alive and well after months presuming she was dead. Therefore, he snapped "Damn it Renee! You are not coming forward as a witness. That's the end of this discussion!"

Renee was completely taken back by what Jack just said. She knew Jack was trying to shield her from any possible harm, but she honestly didn't think he would do so at the expense of millions of lives in the Middle East. That was not what she would have wanted. She knew coming forward as a witness with information that could potentially stop a war from getting worse was a right thing to do. After shooting a 'How could say that?' look at Jack, Renee simply turned around and walked away from Jack.

"Renee..." Jack said. He realized what he said to her moments ago was a too harsh so he dialled his tone down a little bit.

"I need to get some air..." She said angrily as she walked away from Jack.

As he watched Renee walking away from him, Jack closed his eyes and sighed sadly. He knew Renee was angry at him. He knew she had best intentions in her mind when she decided that she wanted to come forward with what she had known, but by doing so she might end up getting herself killed. Jack simply couldn't allow that to happen. Therefore, he decided to talk to Renee again once she cooled off, hoping that she would see it his way and stop putting herself in the line of fire considering what happened in that horrible morning 18 months ago.

**11:42:53**

After disclosing what she remembered to Agent Caffrey, Sarah borrowed a phone from the CTU agent and made a phone call. Still lying on her hospital bed, Sarah was waiting for her call to be connected. She was actually calling the CTU agent in charge so she could talk to Renee. She figured now was probably a good time to talk to her since CTU had already completed their rescue operation. Sarah wanted to thank Renee and Jack for saving her life back at the FBI field office. During her debrief, Sarah did not tell Agent Caffrey about what Renee did to Kirilenko in the interrogation room. She thought it was the least she could do for Renee. In addition to thanking Renee, Sarah also wanted to talk to her about what happened. She had never felt so crushed, alone, and helpless in her life before. Her partner was dead, her boss was killed, and most of her colleagues were either dead or seriously injured. Therefore, she decided talk to Renee, hoping the former FBI agent could offer her some guidance. Although Sarah had only known Renee for about 11 hours, she felt that Renee was someone who she could talk to about how to deal with the dark reality she had found herself in.

Meanwhile, inside the parking lot where CTU was using as a staging area, Renee was standing against the front door of a black CTU SUV with her arms crossed. After a somewhat heated argument with Jack, she simply wanted to go somewhere to clear her head. The current spot she was in gave her the privacy to do so since there wasn't any CTU agent around at the moment. After calming down a bit, Renee began to think about things between Jack and her. Although she really appreciated what Jack was trying to do, right now she thought coming forward with the information on Kirilenko's operation in Kazakhstan was something she needed to do. She simply couldn't live with herself knowing that she had the power to do something that can stop an already-horrible situation from getting any worse. Upon thinking about that, Renee also realized something. If she did come forward with what she had known, CTU will put her into witness protection again, which means she might never see Jack again. There was a part of her that wanted to be with Jack, but there was also a part of her that thought maybe it was for the best._ Jack was supposed to be with his family 18 months ago, but because of me, he was dragged into a dangerous CTU operation, and later, became an internationally wanted fugitive..._ Renee thought somberly. Right now, her heart ached as she became more and more conflicted about the decision she had to make.

Unfortunately, unknown best to Renee, Kessler's snipers were already at their respective positions. The team Kessler had deployed near the vicinity of the abandoned hotel actually had two snipers. Right now, they had set up their respective sniper's perches in two different high rises overlook the parking lot. Thanks to General Rawlins, Kessler also had live feed from the drone that was used currently used by CTU over the abandoned hotel and the parking lot. Using the live feed from the drone, Kessler's technician quickly pinned pointed Renee's current position and send it along with Renee's picture to Kessler's snipers. Once the snipers received the data packet on their smart phones, they knew where to look and they quickly acquired their target.

"Nomad Two, I don't have the clear shot on the target. Do you have the clear shot?" The sniper with the call sign 'Nomad One' asked his teammate over a heavily encrypted radio channel as he observed the auburn haired target through his advance high power scope mounted on his Steyr SSG 08 sniper rifle. As an experienced sniper, he actually set up his sniper's nest inside an empty office of a high rise. Although the spot gave him a clear, unobstructed view of the parking lot, the sniper did not have a clear line of sight on his target. He knew the target was actually standing behind a black SUV. However, from his vantage point, the sniper could only see the left side of the SUV and a small portion of the target's auburn head on the other side of the vehicle. The black SUV she was leaning against completely blocked her figure. Although he did not have a clear shot, the sniper still kept his crosshair centered on that small visible portion of the target's head, hoping the target would show herself soon.

"Nomad One, I got eyes on the target but no joy. Maintaining visual on the target." The second sniper reported. He also didn't have a clear shot, either. The sniper with the call sign 'Nomad Two' had positioned himself inside a room of another different high rise. He also covered himself with a black blanket to make himself less visible. From his position, the sniper also got the visual on the target. However, his line of sight on the target was also blocked by the black SUV as well. Through his scope, he could see the back and the left side of the black SUV. In fact, from his position, he was looking at the black SUV from an angle. Despite he didn't have a clear shot, the sniper still knew the target was behind that SUV. Therefore, he kept his crosshair trained at the target's position. All of the sudden, he saw someone walking toward her from her from her left. Quickly, he reported his teammate over the radio.

"Nomad One, we got CTU personnel approaching the target."

"Copy, I see him." The sniper reported as he shifted his crosshair to the approaching CTU personnel. He figured the target would probably approach that CTU agent as well, hence moving away from her cover. Therefore, he knew he will get a clear shot very soon.

As Renee continued to try to decide whether or not to come forward with the information she had, she saw Seaver walking towards her from her left. Figuring the young CTU agent probably wanted to discuss the case, Renee composed herself a bit and then she turned to Seaver's direction. Unknown best to her, as she began to walk toward Seaver, she was actually in process of exposing herself to one of the snipers' line of sight.

"Ms. Walker, I got an FBI agent named Sarah Ferris one the phone. She wants to talk to you..." Seaver said to Renee.

Renee was quite pleasantly surprised after hearing that Sarah called. She was relieved that Sarah was out of the surgery and seemed to be doing well, but she was also worried about the young FBI agent's mental wellness as well. Renee understood the traumatic experience Sarah was going through, considering she had also been through roughly similar situation before. She hoped to offer Sarah her support because she thought it was the least she could do after Sarah had helped her took down Kirilenko and reunited with Jack in process. Therefore, Renee nodded as she extended her hand to take the phone from Seaver.

Just as Seaver was preparing to hand the phone he was holding to Renee, he saw a tiny red dot seemingly dancing around Renee's left cheek. Upon seeing that, Seaver instantly figured out what was going on and what was going to happen next if he did not act at this instant. Instinctively, just as Renee was reaching for his phone, he quickly took a step forward and pushed Renee away. Just as soon as Seaver pushed Renee away, a bullet that seemingly coming out of nowhere punctured through his Kevlar vest and pierced through his chest. At the same moment, the impact from the large caliber sniper round instantly knocked Seaver down on the ground.

Seaver's action caught Renee completely by surprise. As a result, she lost her balanced and fell on the ground. As her head hit the ground, Renee wondered what the hell was going on. She was absolutely confused why the young CTU agent pushed her away instead of handing her the phone. However, after she quickly sat up, she saw the horrifying sight of the young CTU agent lying on the ground not far from her. Right now, Seaver was gasping for air as blood continued flowing out of his mouth. That image literally sent a cold chill down Renee's spine. _Oh My God..._ As her fear began to sink in, her adrenaline and survival instinct also kicked in as well. Fighting the panic, she began seeking cover behind the black SUV nearby.

"Damn it..." The sniper muttered as he manually ejected the spent shell casing from his bolt-action sniper rifle. Just when he had a clear shot, he did not expect the CTU agent to push his target away and took the bullet that was intended for his target. After he pushed the bolt forward to chamber another round, the sniper continued to track his target through his scope. Right now, he saw the target began to crawl away and was in process of seeking cover behind the black SUV. Without any hesitation, the sniper took aim and pulled the trigger again. However, his shot did not register. Instead, his bullet hit the left front door window of the SUV. The window glass shattered upon the impact of the large caliber round. The sniper cursed under his breath again as he manually ejected his spent shell casing again.

Just as Renee reached the SUV, bullet which seemingly came out of nowhere from a far pierced through SUV's both front door windows, shattering the window glasses in process. Although the bullet didn't hit her, she winced as tiny pieces of shattered glasses fell upon her. Instinctively, she quickly sat against the SUV's left front door and made herself as small as possible by curled up her legs. She also pulled out her Glock 19 as well. However, even with a weapon at hand, Renee still wasn't feeling remotely safe. Gripping with fear, her entire body was trembling like jelly. The flashback of what happened in Jack's apartment 18 months ago assaulted her relentlessly. No matter how hard she tried, Renee still couldn't get that horrible memory out of her head for the moment. She remembered the agonizing moment when the sniper's white-hot bullet tore through her body. She remembered lying on the floor of Jack's bedroom and coughing out of blood as she struggled to breathe. Right now, Renee couldn't believe that she had found herself in the same nightmarish situation again. _This isn't happening...This isn't happening... _She kept telling herself in denial.

"Renee? Renee?" Sarah asked over the phone after she did not hear anyone answering her call for a short while. Suddenly, over the phone, she heard the sound of glass shattering, followed by shouting of CTU agents from a distance. Sarah couldn't make out most of the background shouting, but she could make out one word clearly: Sniper. That word was enough for Sarah to deduce what was going on. It appeared that someone was trying to kill Renee. _Oh My God..._ Sarah's eyes widened upon the frightening revelation. "Renee!" Sarah shouted again in panic, hoping to get any form of response from the other end. However, she got nothing from the other end of the phone. Unknown best to her, Seaver's phone was currently lying on the ground, right inside the sniper's kill zone. After getting no response from the other end, Sarah knew she needed to help Renee. She needed to get out of the hospital first. However, just as she started to sit up, she quickly let out a pained groan. The pain on her left abdomen forced her to lie down on her hospital bed again. The pain quickly reminded her that she was still recovering her gunshot wound at the moment. _Damn it..._She groaned.

Meanwhile, through his scope, the sniper with the call sign 'Nomad One' continued to observe the situation. Right now, he knew his target was hiding behind the black SUV. Despite he had his crosshair trained on the target's position. He knew the target was taking cover behind the black SUV and he got no clear shot, so he quickly radioed his teammate to see if he got the kill shot from his vantage point.

"Nomad Two, he target is still active. She is now hiding behind the black SUV. Take her out if you have the shot!"

"Negative, Nomad One, I still don't have the visual on the target." The other sniper reported as he continued to observe the situation through the scope. He knew the target was hiding in the same spot she was standing moments ago, but from his vantage point, he had no clear shot.

After hearing his teammate's report, the sniper then shifted his attention to the CTU agent who jumped in front of his bullet earlier. From the looks of it, the CTU agent seemed to be seriously wounded after jumping in front of his bullet. Upon seeing the wounded CTU agent, the sniper thought of an idea. He figured he could use the wounded CTU agent as bait since the target would likely try to help the wounded CTU agent. He remembered a military tactic where the sniper has to shoot to wound so that the sniper can draw out the other enemy combatants who come to their comrade's rescue, hence turning one incapacitated enemy combatant into several. It was a tactic often favoured by the snipers who had fought in various conflicts in the Balkan Peninsula. Quickly, he radioed his teammate.

"Nomad Two, maintain your current position. If the target is heading your way, take her."

At the same time, Renee felt like she was paralyzed by this overwhelming fear. She wanted to get out of this very spot she was in at this very instant, but she just couldn't seem to find the strength move. To make her current situation even worse, the horrible memories from that very morning 18 months ago continued to assault her relentlessly. She also felt a sharp pain around her chest, as if her fear began to play tricks on her mind. At the moment, Renee was reliving one of her worst nightmares and she couldn't do anything about it, and that scared her the most.

Meanwhile, Jack was just arriving at the parking lot. He wanted to apologize to Renee for being too harsh on her earlier. Jack just didn't want Renee to put herself in danger again by coming forward with what she knew about Kirilenko's secret chemical weapon facility in Kazakhstan. He couldn't bear losing her for the second time, and it annoyed the hell out of him that why couldn't Renee see he was trying to protect her. Despite that, Jack understood why she wanted to come forward with what she knew. Therefore, Jack decided to talk to Renee again, hoping she would understand that he wanted to get those conspirators behind today's events without exposing her to any danger in process. However, just as he arrived at the parking lot, he heard someone shouted "Sniper! Take cover!" Instinctively, he sought cover behind a police cruiser nearby and quickly observed the situation. The first thing that came to his mind was Renee. After hearing the word "Sniper", Jack knew he needs to find her and get her to safety first. He began fanatically scanning the area, hoping to find her in one piece amidst the chaotic scene. _Please be okay... _He prayed as his anxiety continued to rise every second. What happened on that horrifying morning 18 months ago still haunted him. He could still remember the horrifying sight of Renee, wrapped in his white bed sheet, lying on the floor with blood gushing out of her gunshot wound. He simply couldn't bear to see the same horrifying tragedy happen to her for the second time. Fortunately, he was able to find her. He saw her from a distance at his 12 o'clock direction. Although Renee appeared to be unharmed, what Jack saw still horrified him. He saw Renee sitting against a black SUV. He also saw Seaver, who was currently lying on the ground in the open not far from Renee's position. The young CTU agent seemed to be shot by the sniper. Instantly, Jack realized that both Renee and Seaver were currently in the sniper's kill zone. _Oh My God..._ "Renee!" He shouted. However, whether it was due to the distance or it was due to the fact that she was paralyzed by fear, Jack didn't get a response from her. He wanted to rush to Renee's position and pull her away to safety at this very instant, but he knew if he gets close, he will get cut down by sniper's fire. _Damn it..._ Truth to be told, Jack didn't really care about the risk at the moment. All he cared right now was Renee's safety. Just as he decided to make a dash towards Renee's position, he heard a CTU agent, who was also taking cover behind the same police cruiser as him, issuing orders to CTU TAC team over the radio. The CTU agent was telling the TAC team to get the ballistic shields and other CTU agents to work on containment. Once he saw the agent's name on his shoulder patch. He spoke to the CTU agent.

"Agent Davis, how soon can the TAC team get to their position?" Jack asked anxiously. He knew CTU was mounting a rescue operation as he spoke. However, despite knowing the TAC team was going into the kill zone with ballistic shields to get their wounded director of field ops and Renee, he was still extremely worried.

"They are going in now." Agent Davis answered.

Jack thought it was possible that the shooter was actually remnant of those IRK extremists. However, he also thought that it might also have to do with Renee, considering what she knew about Kirilenko's operation. Jack really wished that this was an isolated incident involving IRK extremists and it didn't involve Renee, but his instinct strongly disagreed with his wishes. Regardless whichever the case was, getting Renee to safety first was his primary priority.

"Did you see where the shot was coming from?" Jack asked.

"We don't know, but we already got the acoustic locator up and running..."Agent Davis said as he pointed to the strange antenna-looking device that mounted on the roof of a CTU van nearby. The antenna-looking sniper locator actually had a number of smaller antennas attached to its tips. That high-tech device uses passive acoustic detection and computer-based signal processing to accurately located shooters. "If that son of a bitch fires again we will have his location." The CTU agent said confidently.

After hearing what CTU agent said, Jack then saw three TAC team members, who, like ancient Greek warriors, formed an impenetrable wall formation using their ballistic shields. Holding their ballistic shield in wall formation, those three CTU agents began to advance towards Seaver's positions. Upon seeing that, Jack became a bit less worried. Suddenly, he remembered that Renee probably still had her earpiece on, so he decided to talk to Renee via the comm. devices, in an attempt to comfort her in this horrible situation. He thought it was the least he could do before the TAC team pulls her out of the sniper's line of fire.

"Renee, it Jack..." Jack said to her over the radio.

Initially, Renee was completely startled by the voice coming from her earpiece, but she quickly recognized that it was Jack's voice. Upon hearing his voice, she seemed to snap out of her panic, frozen-like state. However, she was still extremely terrified. She could only answer Jack in a barely audible voice.

"Jack..."

From Renee's voice, Jack could sense that she was terrified. Considering what Renee had suffered through after that fateful morning 18 months ago, it broke Jack's heart as he watched Renee sitting there all alone and shaking with fear. At this moment, he wished he could just rush in there and get her out of that place. "Renee, TAC team is coming. I know you're sacred... Just sit tight and don't move. Everything is gonna be okay..." Jack tried to reassure her.

"Okay..." She replied. After hearing what Jack said, Renee felt a bit less terrified than she was before. After Jack's voice snapped her out of her panic induced frozen state, she began to look around her and saw was Agent Seaver on her left. The poor CTU agent was still lying on the same spot and right now, he was in very bad shape. He was coughing out blood and struggling to breath at the same time. To make the matter worse, he was lying there in the open, which meant no one could get to him without getting shot by the sniper. Upon seeing the horrible sight, Renee's heart ached for the young CTU agent. She had suffered through same traumatic experience and she knew exactly what was like to have your life slowly drained away from you. She also felt a tremendous amount of guilt as well. If it wasn't for Seaver, she probably wouldn't be alive. Suddenly, a terrifying realization hit Renee: that bullet was meant for her, which means someone was trying to take her out, just like that morning 18 months ago. Upon thinking about that, she started to feel a sense of dread again. All of the sudden, she noticed three CTU TAC team members, holding ballistic shields in wall formation, advanced slowly towards Seaver's position. Upon see the sight, Renee quickly felt a sense of relief as her fear started to disappear. It was like a ray of hope amidst this terrifying situation.

Although CTU TAC team was steadily approaching Seaver's position, Jack was still feeling nervous. He won't feel right until Renee was out of the sniper's kill zone. He decided that as soon as the TAC team brought Renee to safety, he will take her as far away from this place as possible and hide her somewhere safe. However, just as Jack finished his train of thoughts, he heard a cracking sound which was characteristic of a high caliber round travelling in high velocity through the air. All of the sudden, a bullet, which seemingly came out of nowhere from afar, slammed into CTU's sniper locator. Much to Agent Davis' shock, the bullet completely destroyed the high-tech device.

"Nomad Two, enemy locater has been neutralized. You're clear to engaging all CTU personnel approaching the target." After the sniper successfully took out CTU's sniper locater, he quickly informed his teammate. He knew he had to neutralize CTU's anti-sniper capabilities as soon as possible before he could get a clear shot at the target. The sniper then shifted his crosshair over to Renee's position again. So far, his target was still hiding behind the black SUV and hadn't shown herself yet. He also saw the TAC team approaching the position of the wounded CTU agent in shield wall formation as well. However, he wasn't worried. He knew his teammate will take out those CTU agents.

"Roger." The other sniper responded as he kept his crosshair trained on those three CTU TAC team members approaching the wounded CTU agent's position. From his vantage point, he actually could see the unprotected left side of the TAC team's formation. Therefore, he had clear shots to take out those TAC team members behind their ballistic shields. After acquiring his target, without any hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

Meanwhile, the three TAC team members were almost at Seaver's position. Just as they continued to advance while holding their formation at the same time, suddenly, a bullet, which seemingly coming out of nowhere, hit the left most TAC team members' left shoulder in their formation. The momentum of the bullet literally knocked him down to the ground upon its impact.

"We got a man down!" The other TAC team member shouted as he turned to his left to check on his fallen teammate while maintaining the shield wall formation with the right-most TAC team member at the same time. However, just as he found out that his teammate's left shoulder was in really bad shape due to the large caliber round, without any warning, another bullet slammed into his chest. Although the TAC team member was wearing Kevlar vest, the sniper's bullet was able to penetrate through it and found its mark in the poor CTU agent's heart, killing him instantly.

Renee watched the situation unfold in absolute horror. _Oh my God..._ As she watched the lone remaining TAC team member desperately tried to drag his wounded teammate away from the snipers' kill zone, she quickly realized that she was on her own for now since CTU probably won't risk sending TAC team to her and Seaver's positions again. At the moment, she felt crushed, helpless, and frightened. She thought about Jack coming to her rescue, but she didn't want him to risk his life doing so. She just couldn't even want to think of the possibility of Jack getting gunned down by the sniper. Gripping the handle of her pistol even tighter with her trembling hands, Renee began to pray for a miracle that could get her and Seaver out of this nightmarish situation she was still in.

On the other hand, Jack was shocked after watching those CTU agents got gunned down by the snipers. However, knowing Renee's life was still in danger and there was no time to waste, he quickly snapped back to his CTU agent mode and began assessing the situation again. From busted CTU sniper locator, Jack figured that since the ricochet was directly through the sniper locator, the point of the origin must be somewhere around his 1 o'clock direction. In addition to that, judging by the way those CTU agents fell, Jack also figured that the shots that took out those two agents must came from somewhere around his 10 o'clock direction. After a quick assessment, Jack determined that there were at least two snipers at the scene. _Damn it..._ Upon thinking about that, he became even more worried about Renee's safety. He knew CTU needed to locate the sniper soon. Therefore, he quickly contacted the CTU director.

"Director Devlin, this is Jack Bauer, I need you to send choppers to canvass the high rises nearby. There are two active shooters ..."

"Sorry, Jack, I can't do that. It's too risky." Devlin promptly cut Jack off. "Those shooters have long-range, high precision weapons that can make short work of big noisy targets like choppers. Besides, they could have positioned portable anti-aircraft missiles nearby... We simply can't risk that... Besides, we got LAPD sweeping every high rises near your area. We will find those shooters soon." The CTU director had been watching the situation unfold from the drone's video feed on the giant screen in CTU's bullpen. He was absolutely shocked that couple of his agents, including his director of field ops, were down. He wanted the situation contained as soon as possible, but he also wanted to do so without any more casualties. Right now, he hoped the LAPD can locate those shooters soon.

At the same time, after hearing what Devlin said, Chloe simply shot the CTU director a disapproval look. She also saw the horrifying situation unfold through the video feed from the drone. She tried to help CTU locate the shooters' positions but she couldn't find them on any of the rooftops in that area. Even with LAPD sweeping every building in the area, Chloe thought they probably wouldn't be able to find the shooters in a short time. She was extremely worried about both Jack and Renee's safety. She just hoped that it wouldn't end up like what happened 18 months ago.

After ending the brief conversation, Jack was actually pretty dissatisfied with what the CTU director told him. With Renee's life at stake, he couldn't just sit around and wait for the LAPD to locate the snipers in time. He simply couldn't count on that. Jack knew in order to get Renee out of this horrifying situation, he needed to do something. He quickly turned to Agent Davis and asked.

"Agent Davis, I'm gonna try to eliminate those shooters. Is there a sniper rifle I can use?"

"There should be one in the back of that SUV." Agent Davis said as he pointed to a CTU SUV behind them.

Without any hesitation, Jack quickly moved to the SUV mentioned by Agent Davis. After he opened the trunk, he found assortment of CTU issued weapons inside, including a Remington 700PSS sniper rifle. Jack then grabbed the sniper rifle and began to check it. In order to further ensure Renee's safety, he knew he had to take those snipers out before they could take her out. Jack already had an approximate idea on which high rises those bastards might be hiding and right now, he just hoped that those snipers still remained in their positions. After he checked his weapon, Jack grabbed a night vision binocular from the back of the SUV and then quickly headed back to Agent Davis location. After giving Agent Davis the binocular, Jack radioed Renee again.

"Renee, it's Jack." He said as he readied his sniper rifle. "I'm gonna try to take out those snipers... I want you to remain in your position. Whether you do, do not move out of your cover. We're gonna get you out of there soon..."

"Okay..." Renee replied in a trembling voice. After hearing what Jack said, Renee actually became a bit calmer and less afraid. At the same time, she was also worried. _What if the snipers saw what Jack was doing and try to take him out?_ The thought scared her the most. She thought because of her, Jack had been through a lot. She simply couldn't let Jack put himself in danger again on the account of her. However, right now, there wasn't a damn thing she could do other than staying at where she was. Renee loathed herself for being the damsel in distress in this situation. She just hoped that Jack would take out all of the snipers without getting himself shot in process. Considering the situation she was in, she needed to believe that.

Meanwhile, after observing his target for a short period of time, the sniper knew that the target was gonna continue to hide behind the black SUV and not gonna come out of her cover anytime soon. To make the matter worse for him and his teammate, LAPD was doing a grid search on the area. Therefore, the sniper knew he had to end this soon otherwise he and his teammate will fail their objective. He quickly radioed his teammate.

"Nomad Two, I'm getting chatters that LAPD is canvassing the area. We need to end this quickly. I'm moving to another vantage point. If you have the shot, take it. Otherwise continue engaging any possible threat."

"Roger that." The other sniper answered as he continued to observe the target as well as CTU personnel in the parking lot through his scope. All of the sudden, something alerting caught his eye. From his point of view, he saw someone, popping out from behind a police cruiser far from his target, was looking at his direction with a high-tech binocular. After adjusting the magnification of this scope, he saw something even more shocking. Right beside that CTU agent was another agent, who was holding a Remington 700PSS sniper rifle and it seemed like that agent searching for him through his scope while using the police cruiser as cover. _Damn it...that's probably CTU's counter-sniper team..._ He thought. Therefore, without any hesitation, he took aim at that agent and then he opened fire. However, his bullet only hit the sirens mounted on top of the police cruiser, sending shattered glass flying everywhere. The sniper muttered some profanities as he lifted the bolt to eject the spent shell casing.

At the same time, after the sniper's bullet hit the siren, Agent Davis quickly ducked down behind the police cruiser. On the other hand, Jack did not budge. He quickly shifted his crosshair to where he thought the sniper's hiding spot was. After the sniper took out those two CTU agents was moments ago, Jack already had a rough idea where that sniper was judging by the direction of the shots. Now, after the sniper's bullet hit the siren, ricochet actually helped Jack determined the sniper's exact location. Through the advanced scope mounted on his rifle, Jack saw the sniper behind one of the window in the high rise at his 10 o'clock direction. Once he saw the sniper, he pulled the trigger.

After he quickly pushed the bolt in to chamber another round, the sniper refocused his aim again on the CTU sniper who seemed to be aiming at his direction. However, just as he got his crosshair on that CTU sniper hiding behind the police cruiser, he saw the muzzle flash coming out of that CTU sniper's Remington 700PSS sniper rifle. The instant he realized what was going on, a bullet penetrated through his sniper scope and found its mark in the sniper's right eye, and then a cloud of red mist exploded from the back of his head.

"He's down." Jack said coldly as he manually chambered another round by pushing the bolt forward, and then he quickly shifted his sight to another high rise at his 12' o'clock direction. Agent Davis, after hearing that Jack took out one of the snipers, quickly stood up, held up his binocular again, and then started looking at the direction where Jack was looking. From the ricochet that went through CTU's sniper locator, Jack already roughly knew where that sniper was. Quickly, he found the sniper's position within the high rise. However, through his scope, Jack didn't see anyone behind the window where he thought the sniper was shooting from. _Damn it he must have moved..._ He thought.

"Agent Davis, I couldn't find the second sniper. Do you see him?"

"No. I couldn't find anyone." The CTU agent said. "Maybe he bug out after you killed his buddy..."

"No, he's still here..." Jack said, and then he informed Renee the situation over the radio. "Renee, I took out one of the snipers in your 6 o'clock direction. There's still another one which is unaccounted for...Just stay there and don't move." He ordered.

After hearing what Jack said, Renee actually became a bit more relieved. She knew there was still another sniper out there and she knew that Jack will take out that sniper and resolve this terrible situation. However, aside from still feeling terrified, she also felt quite horrible and guilt-ridden. She thought because of her, Jack was putting himself at risk again, and because of her, Seaver was now lying in the open and severely wounded. Renee wished she wished she could do something to help, but there wasn't a thing she could do without getting herself killed. She loathed herself for being a useless damsel in distress at the moment. Suddenly, a pained groan interrupted her train of thoughts. She turned her left and saw Seaver who was trying to move. However, due to the blood loss, he remained immobilized as he continued lying helplessly on top of a small puddle of his blood. After seeing such horrible sight, Renee knew that Seaver's condition was going from bad to worse and she needed to get him to safety first. In order to do that, she needed to venture out in the open to get him. Upon thinking that, those terrifying thought about her getting shot by the sniper emerged again. No matter how hard Renee tried to suppress that thought, it just wouldn't go away.

At the same time, Seaver was trying to move his body, but he simply didn't have the strength to do so due to the massive blood loss. He was s struggling to stay alive, but he knew it was a losing battle. As the seconds gone by, he could feel his eyes getting heavier and heavier. He turned his head and saw Renee, who was looking at him. From her body language, Seaver figured Renee was probably thinking about breaking her cover and try to rescue him. He couldn't let her do that, especially when the sniper was still active. Therefore, he quickly gave Renee a look, signalling her to stay where she was right now.

After she saw the look Seaver gave her telling her to stay where she was, Renee knew she really needed to go out and help him. Seaver saved her life earlier and she just couldn't let him die because of that. She couldn't live with herself if that happened. Despite there was still a part of her that strongly urged her to remain behind the black SUV, using all of her will power, Renee managed to put her frightened feeling aside for now. Without giving it more thought, she radioed Jack.

"Jack, Agent Seaver is bleeding out. He is not gonna make it unless we do something about it..." She stated in her no nonsense tone. "I'm gonna try to get him..."

"Renee wait..." Jack said worriedly. However, before he could tell Renee to stay behind her cover, he saw her breaking her cover and dashing toward Seaver's position. _Damn it! Why won't she ever listen to me?_ Jack thought angrily as he quickly re-focused on the task of finding the second sniper. He knew he had to find that bastard fast, and judging by the time frame, Jack figured the sniper probably did not move far. He was probably still inside the same high rise, but hiding in different spot. Therefore, through his scope, Jack continued scanning the possible sniper's nest around the spot where he thought the sniper was moments ago. _Damn it...where is he?_

Meanwhile, after moving to the floor on top of his original spot, the sniper was able to find another empty office that gave him exactly what he wanted: A good vantage point that gave him a clear shot at his target. Quickly, he set the bipod of his sniper rifle down on the office's window ledge and aimed down his scope. Through his scope, he saw his target. She had broken her cover and now was in process of slowly dragging the CTU agent who blocked his shot earlier to safety. Right now, his target was in the wide open and he had a clear shot. The sniper knew he could not waste this opportunity, so he quickly shifted the center of his crosshair to the target's auburn haired head. _I got you now, you little bitch..._He thought as he let out a sickening smirk. However, just as the sniper was about to pull the trigger, a bullet, which seemingly came out of nowhere, pierced through his head by entering from the left side of his face. The bullet killed him instantly as red mist exploded out of the exit wound.

After confirming his kill, Jack quickly informed Agent Davis that all snipers were neutralized. With haste, Agent Davis ordered CTU TAC team to move in to secure their director of field ops and Renee. As he watched CTU TAC team moving towards Renee and Seaver's position with their ballistic shields, he put down his still-smoking sniper rifle and rushed towards Renee's position as well. Although he was sure that he got the last sniper, Jack still wanted to make sure that Renee was alright and get her out of this place at once.

Renee, on the other hand, after she successfully dragged an unconscious Seaver behind the black SUV, she quickly tended to him. However, Seaver didn't seem to be responding. Renee checked him for the pulse but she couldn't find any. _Oh...no..._ The realization then hit her like a speeding freight train. Agent Seaver was dead. All of the sudden, Renee felt immeasurable amount of guilt rose inside her. _If I got to him earlier...If I wasn't so cowardly at that time..._ She loathed herself for not being able to help Agent Seaver in his time of need. The young CTU agent saved her life but she wasn't able to save his. As her guilt and self-loathing continued eating her, a CTU medic came beside her, ask her to move away and let him take over. Renee silently complied. As she stood up, she saw Jack, who had just arrived at the scene and stood couple feet beside her. Upon seeing Jack, Renee quickly rushed towards him. She then collapsed on his shoulder and started to cry. Renee hated being so weak in front of Jack, but she simply couldn't take it anymore.

"It's okay... you're safe now..." Jack whispered softly to her ear as he held her gently. He knew Renee had been through a lot, and considering what just happened moments ago, he wanted nothing more than taking all of her pain away. While he continued holding Renee inside his arms, Jack also saw the CTU medic pronounced that Agent Seaver as dead. Although he only knew Seaver for a very brief time, but Jack could tell that the young man was a good agent, and by the looks of it, he probably saved Renee's life. Jack could sense that Renee probably felt responsible for his death. He knew that at the moment, there was simply nothing she could do to save Seaver. He just wished Renee would see it that way, instead of continuing blaming herself for something she didn't have control over. Not wanting Renee to see Seaver's body and deepening her guilt, Jack decided to whisk Renee away from the scene.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here" Jack said softly as he led Renee away from the scene. Renee, still feeling quite distraught, nodded and let Jack led her. As both of them walked toward a CTU SUV, Jack started to think about the million dollar question: Who would want to kill Renee? It was obviously related to her knowledge of Kirilenko's operation in Kazakhstan, which meant that Kirilenko's associates knew Renee could throw a wrench in their plan so they tried to take her out. He thought that already failed Renee once and he will not fail her again. _Not a chance in hell those bastards will lay their hands on her._ Therefore, Jack decided that in order to keep Renee completely safe and worry free, he will need to kill every one of the Kirilenko's associates, and he got an idea on how to find them...

**11:59:57...11:59:58...11:59:59...12:00:00**

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**Hope you guys enjoy the story. Please let me know what you think :)**

**Some Random Thoughts and Ramblings**

**General Rawlins:** As I mentioned in previous chapter, I already planned that Rawlins as the main antagonist of the story when I was writing the prologue. Therefore, I also planned out his overall plans as well (For instance, in the chapter where IRK Foreign Minister was assassinated, I mentioned the Russian Motorcade took the primary evacuation route instead of the secondary one). One of my writer's blocks was actually from explaining Rawlins' overall plan. Due to its complex and non-linear nature, I actually had one helluva time explaining it on paper (It's a bit easier with a flowchart LOL). There are several points I wanted to stress:

1. Rawlins and Kirilenko did not know each other in person. Rawlins simply let Kirilenko's false flag operation played itself out because it suited his overall goal. By carrying out that false flag operation, Kirilenko unknowingly played into Rawlins' hands. It was essentially a conspiracy (Kirilenko's) within a conspiracy (Rawlins').

2. During the course of the day, Rawlins was gonna had Kessler's mercenaries abduct the Russian Foreign Minister and then handed him to the IRK extremists. The latter part remained unchanged, but the abduction plan got changed twice due to the unforeseen circumstances. The first time was right after Kirilenko's men assassinated the IRK Foreign Minister. Rather than just abandoning the operation and going into the cover-up mode (as most of 24 villains would do), Rawlins decided to play with the hands he had been dealt with. He let Jack ran on autopilot because he expected Jack to take out Kirilenko by any means necessary. That allowed him to focus on how to extract the Russian Foreign Minister (which explains why he didn't have much presence in the previous chapters because he was busy coming up ways to salvage his operation). However, the circumstances changed again with FBI capturing Jack and Kirilenko and the Russian Foreign Minister was going to the FBI field office to collect them both, so that Rawlins changed his plain once again and had Kessler's mercenaries extracted the Russian Foreign Minister from the FBI field office, hence getting his plan back on track.

I hope I did a somewhat acceptable job explaining the overarching aspects of Rawlins' plan. Of course, there are still a few aspects I haven't fully explained (such as Module 67), and those aspects will be explained in the future chapters since Rawlins still got an endgame in mind. If you have any questions please let me know :)

**Sniper Duel:** This is actually something I always want to write in the story. Of course, this is 24 so I actually up the ante a bit by putting Renee inside the no man's land between Jack and the two snipers (*insert evil laugh*). Considering what Renee had been through 18 months ago, I thought it would be more logical that she was completely scared of the situation. It was definitely in contrast of the first episode of Season 7, where Renee still remained quite professional after Tony's sniper, Tanner, took out that dude, but with what happened in Season 8, I thought it was kinda hard to just have Renee ignored that. Besides, I kinda foreshadowed that in two occasions in previous chapters. I just hope I didn't make Renee too wimpy in this chapter. As for the actual sniper dual, a lot of creative liberties were taken here. For instance, normally, for a sniper, the laser dot was used for intimidation purpose since it actually gives away the sniper's position. However, there was really no way for Seaver to notice the sniper targeting Renee, since it was midnight so lens glare was out of question. Therefore, I added that bit with the red dot showing up on Renee's face. In addition to that, Jack's bullet travelling through the sniper's scope was another creative liberty I've taken (I think the folks at Mythbuster disproved that). I just added that for the dramatic purpose (Plus if Jack Bauer wants the bullet to travel through the scope, the bullet will travel through the scope LOL). Truth to be told, I had a lot of trouble writing this section. I kept using the episode "Between Heartbeats" from the SWAT procedural "Flashpoint" (Awesome show btw) as references in order to create tense and frightening situation. I hoped I pulled it off in some degree.


	18. 12:00AM 1:00AM

_**Author's note:**_

_Holy crap it's really been a long time since the last update (Almost 3 months O_O)._

_Again, I apologize for taking such long period of time to hammer the chapter out. Truth to be told, aside from the life obligations, I will admit that I slacked off a bit too much on this one (Took some times off from the writing due to Stanley Cup playoff). It also didn't help that this chapter is probably the most complex one I've ever written to date (For reasons I'll elaborated at the end of the chapter), and it's also one of the longest chapters in the story (almost 18,000 words). Again I'm really sorry for the delay._

_I also want to thank all of you for your kind support and reviews. You guys are really amazing and really hope this chapter won't disappoint._

_'nuff said let's roll the tape!_

Disclaimer: I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P

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**This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or deceased, is entirely coincidental.**

**Previously on 24**

As the war between Russia and IRK broke out, President Hayworth discussed the matter with Russian President Yuri Suvarov, but Suvarov insisted on continuing the war. Hayworth's chief of staff, Derek Watts, then suggested that they abandon Dalia Hassan's IRK government and use this crisis as an opportunity to leverage the Russians for future favor. Ethan, on the other hand, disagreed with Watts. He thought the conflict could be solved diplomatically if the international community calls a ceasefire. President Hayworth then decided to speak with the European allies first in order to gauge the situation.

After rescuing the Russian Foreign Minister, Seymon Lugansky, from being executed on live internet broadcast by IRK extremists, Jack Bauer and Renee Walker got the news about Russia invading IRK. Shocked by the new development, Jack figured it was probably Kirilenko's associates who were behind the Russian Foreign Minister's abduction and they wanted to use the incident to push Russia to invade IRK, which they had succeeded. Renee, on the other hand, wanted to stop the war, so she wished to come forward with what she knew about Kirilenko's flag operation 3 weeks ago. Jack, fearing Renee's safety, attempted to persuade Renee not to do so, but she stubbornly insisted on coming forward. After a heated argument with Jack, Renee step out of the abandoned hotel to get some air. Unknown best to Renee, the true mastermind behind the day's events, General Jeremiah Rawlins, had dispatched a team of snipers to eliminate Renee, after finding out Renee had the knowledge about Kirilenko's false flag operation, which could potentially stop a war between Russia and IRK, a war General Rawlins wished to continued as part of his grand scheme. Fortunately, Jack managed to neutralize the snipers and saved Renee. However, during the stand-off with the snipers, CTU's head of field op, Evan Seaver, was killed by one of the snipers right after he discovered the sniper targeting Renee and pushed her away from the sniper's line of sight. After Jack took out all of the snipers, he quickly whisked a frightened Renee away from the scene as he vowed to protect her and find out who wanted to kill her…

**The following takes place between 12:00AM and 1:00AM**

**12:02:36**

As CTU agents were busy dealing with the chaotic scene left by a devastating sniper attack, Jack, after getting Renee into a black CTU SUV, disabled its tracking system and then quickly drove away from the parking lot unnoticed. As he sped through the streets of Los Angeles, there were millions of thoughts racing through his head. Right now, he simply didn't trust CTU, especially when it was Renee's life at stake. Jack thought that CTU was probably compromised by the people behind those mercenaries and IRK extremists, otherwise, that those IRK extremists couldn't have known they were coming during their assault. Therefore, asking CTU or any other law enforcement agency for Renee's protection was out of question. Jack was also certain that it was Kirilenko's associates who wanted Renee dead, since they wanted to eliminate every evidence that could prove the attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago was not done by the IRK operatives, hence ensuring the current conflict between Russia and IRK continued. Somehow, they got the information on Renee and figured she was a threat to their plan. So they decided that they needed to take her out. _Damn it…_ Jack cursed silently. _How the hell did they find out about Renee?_ Jack thought aside from the FBI, there's no one knew about Renee and her knowledge on Kirilenko's operation. However, he thought he could figure it out later because right now, his priority was to find out who Kirilenko's associates were before they could try to kill Renee again, and he got an idea on where to start. As Jack continued driving down the road, he called Chloe.

"Chloe, it's Jack…" Jack said in his no-nonsense tone.

"Jack! I've been trying to reach you, what the hell is going on? Is Renee okay?" Chloe asked worriedly.

"She's fine, but those two snipers were deliberately targeting her. Someone wants to take her out…" Jack stated. Although Renee was fine physically, Jack knew emotionally, she was far from okay. He then took a quick look at Renee, who silently sat in the passenger seat. From the looks of it, she was still completely shaken and dumbfounded by the event that occurred minutes ago. Renee was obviously still traumatized by the sniper attack, considering what happened in that fateful morning 18 months ago. After seeing her trying her best to deal with that horrifying experience, Jack's heart ached. He could also feel the rage boiled inside him. He was angry at the people who tried to take Renee away from him. He was also angry at himself for not being able to completely keep her away from harm. He had failed to protect her from Vladimir Laitanan and he had failed to protect her from Pavel Tokerav. _Not this time_…

_Oh my God…_Chloe was completely shocked by what Jack said. Although she was glad to hear that Renee was alright, at the same time, she was shocked that someone took a shot at Renee again. Chloe couldn't help but to notice the similarity between what happened a couple minutes ago and what happened 18 months ago. "Jack, who would want to kill Renee? I mean, Kirilenko is dead and…" Suddenly, Chloe thought of another possibility, and that possibility frightened her. "You think Suvarov is going after her again?"

After Chloe mentioned Suvarov's name, Jack became even more worried. _Damn it, how could I have missed that?_ He was so focused on Kirilenko and his associates he completely forgot about Suvarov. That bastard still had motives to go after Renee. Either he wanted to continue covering up his government's involvement in the events occurred on that day or he want her dead simply out of spite. Jack also thought since it was Renee who rescued Lugansky, it was possible that Lugansky recognized who Renee was and reported what he saw to his boss. Upon thinking about that, he was now kicking himself. He shouldn't have let Renee to participate in Lugansky's rescue. Just like what happened 18 months ago, if he didn't go against his instinct, Renee wouldn't be spotted and she wouldn't become a target. However, despite knowing there was strong possibility that Suvarov ordered the hit on Renee again, he also couldn't omit the possibility that Kirilenko's associates were also after her. _Damn it…_ Right now, with the possibility of having two groups of Russians who wanted her dead, Jack knew Renee's situation just went from bad to worse. Even though at the moment, there were more threats to Renee's safety than he anticipated, Jack was still determined to protect her from those threats at any cost. He couldn't fail her again. As he began to think of a plan to keep Renee safe, but Chloe's voice interrupted him.

"Jack, you there?" Chloe said after hearing nothing but silence for a brief moment.

"Yeah...Chloe, right now, we need to operate under the assumption that both Suvarov and Kirilenko's associates are actively pursuing Renee. We don't know whether both parties are working together or not but it doesn't matter. We need to take both of them down… starting with Lugansky. If Suvarov was behind that attempt on Renee then it's safe to say Lugansky is involved as well. He probably recognized Renee when we rescued him…" Jack figured since he needed to take on both group of Russians, he might as well as starting with the one he had a viable lead on. If he was right about the Russian Foreign Minister, then he thought he could use him to take down Suvarov. If he was wrong, then he could try to get more information about Kirilenko's associates out of him since Lugansky was no stranger to Russian politics inside Kremlin. Without missing a beat, he quickly added. "Chloe, I need you to get me Lugansky's location and information on his protection details…"

"Jack, you're gonna kidnap and interrogate the Russian Foreign Minister?" Chloe asked worriedly. Knowing Jack, she already figured out what he was going to do when he asked her for the Russian Foreign Minister's location and information on his protection details.

"It's our only play here. Lugansky is the only viable lead we have right now. Plus CTU is not gonna let us go after a high ranking foreign diplomatic official..." Jack quickly explained. "Therefore, this has to be a rogue operation…"

Truth to be told, Chloe was still feeling a bit uneasy about this despite that fact that she had helped Jack in many of his rogue operations countless times before. She trusted Jack, but she was also worried. Her best friend was going to take on those two groups of Russians at once in an effort to protect someone he had strong feelings for. Chloe knew Jack always came up on top even when the odds were stacked against him, but she also understood that those victories often came with a lot of sacrifices, especially on his part. She just hoped this time around, he won't have to make any painful sacrifice. After a brief consideration, she decided to give Jack what he wanted.

"Alright, Jack, just give me a second…" Chloe stated, and then she quickly brought up an array of windows that contains on her screen. Although the Russians insisted on handling the security of their Foreign Minister themselves, they still kept CTU in the loop as a precaution, especially after their Foreign Minister's abduction at the hands of the IRK extremists a few hours ago. As a result, Chloe was able to pull out the current position of the Russian Foreign Minister and information on his security details. "Jack, Lugansky is now in a motorcade heading for the airport. He's going back to Russia… I'll send you his real-time position and the rest of files on his security details to your PDA…"

"Thank you…"Jack said sincerely. That was the break he needed. Jack knew it was gonna be next to impossible to get to Lugansky inside the Russian Consulate with tightened securities. However, since Lugansky was now on the road, it meant he had a real shot of extracting him, but it also meant that his window of opportunities was closing fast. Therefore, he needed to think of a plan fast…

At the same time, while Jack talked to Chloe over the phone, Renee was still struggling compose herself due to the sniper attack. Even though at the moment, she was inside an SUV with Jack right beside her, she still didn't feel any safer. Renee tried her hardest to shove the terrifying memories of what happened to her on that morning into the back of her head, but those memories kept flooding back. She still couldn't forget the painful moment the sniper's bullet found its mark two inches below her heart, shattering her blissful morning with Jack at the same time. She still remembered that she struggled to breathe as blood continued gushing out of her wound and staining Jack's sheet at the same time. As those horrifying memories continued to assault her, Renee kept reminding herself that she had survived through all of that and she was safe now with Jack beside her. After she was able to compose herself a bit, she overheard parts of Jack's phone conversation with Chloe. From what she could gather, Jack seemed to think there were two groups of Russians who wanted her dead. Renee knew the obvious one was Kirilenko's associates, but she was then shocked to hear that the same group of people who tried to kill her 18 months ago were possibly trying to kill her again. She was too focused on the current situations with Kirilenko and IRK extremists she almost forgot the reason she was put into the witness protection in the first place. _Damn it… How could I be so stupid?_ She cursed herself for forgetting that. Just because those people didn't come after her during the past 18 months didn't mean that they would completely forget about her. _But how?_ As Renee wondered that question, she then overheard Jack talking about going after both groups of Russians. After hearing that, she suddenly felt the weight of her guilt crashing down on her shoulders. She realized that she was now dragging Jack into her mess again, just like what happened 18 months ago. _None of it would have happened if I had recognized Pavel Tokerav at the scene… None of it would have happened if I didn't screw up the undercover operation…And now I'm dragging him into the same old mess again…_As she continued contemplating on those possibilities, her face darkened severely as she embarked on her personal guilt trip.

**12:06:04**

"Look, Agent Ferris, for the last time, I simply cannot, in good conscious, discharge you from the hospital, especially not in your current condition..." Dr. Lane stated firmly as he continued trying to convince the young FBI agent that it was in her best interest to stay in the hospital. "You just had the surgery a few hours ago. You need to rest…"

"Doctor, I'm fine, really…" Even though Sarah thought the pain on her left abdomen was much more manageable, it still hurt when she tried to move. As a result, she winced as she managed to sit up. Right now, Sarah knew she needed to hold herself together because the pain was the least of her worries. She didn't know exactly what happened at the scene but she was certain Renee was in danger. Although Agent Caffrey was currently on the phone with CTU outside her room, Sarah knew she couldn't just stay in the hospital for the time being. She needed to help Renee.

"I really need you to discharge me, please... My witness is in danger and I need to get out of here before… urgh!" Sarah pleaded, and then she let out a groan as she felt the pain from her gunshot wound. Instinctively, she moved her right hand to cover the wounded area on her left abdomen.

"Agent Ferris, the only way I can discharge you is that you agree to DAMA, Discharge Against Medical Advice. However, as your doctor, I must strongly advise you not to do so, considering your current condition…" Dr. Lane stated.

"Okay, I will agree to DAMA…Just give me whatever documents you need me to fill out…"

The Doctor reluctantly agreed to the young FBI agent's request. He really wished Sarah would reconsider because in her current condition, she needed the time to recovery from her wound. However, since he knew the young FBI agent was determined to leave and probably wouldn't take no for an answer, Dr. Lane decided to respect his patient's wish. He then walked out of Sarah's room in defeat.

After Doctor Lane left to get the room, Agent Caffrey, who just finished talking with CTU, entered Sarah's room again. Although he tried to remain professional, his expression was still quite grim. "Hey, I just got off the phone with CTU…It was chaotic down at the scene… There are at least two snipers. Couple agents, including our director of field ops, are down…"

_Oh my God…_ It was even worse than Sarah had imagined. "What about Renee and Jack? Are they alright?" She quickly asked. She was anxious to know both Renee and Jack's status. She silently prayed that either was among the casualties.

"There reports are still sketchy at the moment, but according to the agents at the scene, Jack Bauer took out the snipers, and then he quickly left the scene with Ms. Walker afterward. CTU is currently trying to locate them both…"

_Thank God they're alright…_ Sarah thought in slight relief, but she was still worried. Right now, both Jack and Renee were in the wind and someone apparently wanted Renee dead. Sarah knew she must find them fast before anything could happen to them. _But who could possibly want Renee dead? Kirilenko is already dead and his friends in Russia had no way of knowing Renee's still alive…_ She wondered. Suddenly, Agent Caffrey's voice broke her train of thoughts.

"So what did the doctor say?"

"Long story short: I'm checking myself out. I need to find both Jack and Renee…" Sarah said, and then she swung her both of her legs over to side of the hospital bed and began removing the tapes from the IV tubing that was attached on her right arm.

"Are you sure that's wise, Agent Ferris?" Agent Caffrey asked in concern. "I mean, you just got out of the surgery a few hours ago…"

"Look, Renee Walker is my witness, and that means she's my responsibility. Right now, someone is trying to kill her and I'm not just gonna lay here and do nothing!" Sarah said firmly, and then she went back to removing the tapes in a somewhat clumsy fashion.

"I think you should let the nurses remove those…" Agent Caffrey said. From the looks of it, he knew the young FBI agent was determined to help both Jack Bauer and Renee Walker. Although he could overrule Sarah with CTU jurisdiction over the case and order her to rest, he thought that probably won't stop her, judging by her determined look. Therefore, he decided to help the young FBI agent since CTU also wanted to locate Bauer and Walker. "Just let me go get the nurse, and see if I can get you some cloths as well…"

"Thank you…" Sarah said sincerely as she watched Agent Caffrey walked out of the room again. Truth to be told, she was so worried about Jack and Renee's safety she forgot she needed clothes since she was wearing a flimsy hospital gown at the moment. As she continued to ignore the residual pain on her left abdomen, Sarah jut wished that she could find both Jack and Renee safely before anything bad happen to them.

**12:11:33**

After receiving the Russian Foreign Minister's real-time location and other information he needed from Chloe, Jack was actually quite worried. Originally, he figured he had the time to putting Renee in a more secure location first before he tries to grab Lugansky. However, since Lugansky was leaving the Russian Consulate and on his way to catch a diplomatic flight out of Los Angeles, Jack knew his window of opportunity was narrowing and he needed to move fast. As he continued driving, he started thinking of a plan to ambush Lugansky's motorcade.

The principle behind an armed extraction was pretty straight forward: Separates the security form the target and then keep the security occupied while the target is acquired. The concept was simple but in Jack's case, the execution was very difficult. Ideally, such operation would require a team of operatives, and at the moment, he didn't have a team. He remembered 18 months ago he was able to successfully grab that slime bag Charles Logan from his assigned Secret Service protection details single handily by himself, but back then, he had military grade body armor, ballistic mask, and assortment of weapons courtesy of his friend, Jim Ricker. Fortunately, Jack knew there were probably some weapons and equipments at the back of the SUV he was driving, since it was a CTU issued SUV. Therefore, he just had to check the trunk to see what he had to work with.

At the same time, Renee was still putting herself through her own personal guilt trip. The memories of what happened during the course of that harrowing day still haunted her. She thought because of her, Jack was dragged back into the world he ought to escape from. Because of her, Jack killed late Russian Foreign Minister and tried to assassinate President of Russian Federation. As a result, he became an internationally wanted fugitive. And now, because of her, Jack was gonna putting himself in harm's way again. Renee knew she couldn't let Jack do that. It was her fight alone and she couldn't let Jack to be involved, especially not when he was on the verge of getting his life back again. Therefore, she needed to convince Jack to walk away from all of the chaos while he still can. She knew that would include walking away from him as well. She thought she had already dragged Jack into her messes 18 months ago and she simply couldn't do that to him again. Plus, Jack's family definitely missed him. As much as the thought of leaving Jack hurts her, Renee knew she had to put his well-being above her desires. Therefore, Renee decided to put her own guilty feelings aside and try to talk Jack out of doing what he was gonna do. Just as she began to open her mouth, all of the sudden, the SUV came to a stop.

"Renee, I need you to stay in the car. I'm gonna have to take care of something. If I'm not back within the hour I want you to head to this address…" Jack said to her after he parked the SUV. He then quickly scribbled an address on a small piece of paper and handed it to Renee. It was the address of the rented storage space which Chloe had been using as a secret substation since this morning, so Jack figured if anything happened to him, Renee should be safe there. Although he did not want to leave her alone and unprotected, the window of opportunity for extracting Lugansky was closing fast, he decided to go against his every instinct and leave her inside the SUV for the time being. His original plan was to move Renee to a secure location first, but right now, that was not a viable option. Jack simply didn't want Renee to be involved in his operation in taking down the people who tried to kill her. Not only was it far too dangerous and could potentially get her killed, Jack understood he might have to cross the line in order to ensure those people won't come near Renee, and by doing so he would become a wanted fugitive again. Jack didn't want Renee to become a fugitive too by involving her in his rogue operation. He didn't want her to live the life that needs to constantly looking over her shoulders, like the life he had in the past 18 months. He thought she deserved better than that, especially after the hell she had been through.

"Jack, you don't have to do this..." Renee pleaded as she received the piece of paper Jack gave to her. She knew about Jack's plan for going after the people who tried to kill her, since she did overheard his conversation with Chloe during the car ride. "…You don't have to going after those people who tried to kill me… it's my mess and it's not fair for you to be involved in, not when you're getting your life back…"

"Look, Renee, it's my choice to get involve…" Jack said as he looked at her eyes. From her eyes, he could tell that Renee still felt responsible for what happened 18 months ago, and it still pained him to see her like that. He wished she would stop beating herself up for those unfortunate events that happened on that night and the following morning. He made the choice to go with her on the CTU's undercover operation. He made the choice to help CTU find the missing nuclear materials in exchange for CTU and the Justice Department not prosecuting her. He made the choice to go after the people who were responsible for her supposed death. Renee shouldn't felt responsible for any of the choice he made. And as of now, he was making the choice to protect her as oppose to just walk away. "Right now there are two groups of Russians who wanted you dead and I'll do everything in my power to protect you, but you have to do what I said…"

"But Jack, if you do this, the Russians are gonna come after you and you'll become a wanted fugitive again…" Renee said.

"That's the risk I'm gonna have to take." Jack stated firmly, and then he quickly exited the SUV and headed for the back of the SUV, without giving Renee any chance for rebuttal. After he opened the trunk of the SUV, and as he expected, he saw the assortments of CTU issued weapons and equipment. Fortunately for Jack, there were some heavy weapons as well as some tactical gears that matched what he had in mind. _Perfect._ He thought. Without missing a beat, he started grabbing the weapons, ammos, and equipments he wanted and began loaded them into a duffel bag.

_Damn it, Jack..._After seeing Jack got out of the SUV, Renee also did the same. She then walked to the back of the SUV to meet Jack. Right now, he was performing a weapon check on the HK416 assault rifle he was holding. Despite knowing that it gonna be extremely hard to make Jack changes his mind on something he set his mind to, Renee was still determined to do so. She simply couldn't let Jack throw his life away again.

"What about Kim and your granddaughter? Don't you want to see them again? "

Upon hearing that, Jack putted down the HK416, turned around, and then looked at Renee somberly. Of course he was longing to see Kim and his granddaughter, Teri, again, but he just couldn't just walk away from her. Not when she was being pursued by people who wanted her dead. _What would Kim think if I just abandoned you in your time of need?_

Renee noticed Jack's somber expression and instantly knew what was going on inside Jack's mind. Although she wanted Jack to leave all of this troubles and chaos behind and reunited with his family, she also wanted to be with him as well. However, given the current situation she was facing, she thought that by being with him would not only drag Jack into her mess, but also endanger Kim and her family. That was the last thing she would have wanted. Despite her wish of being together with Jack, Renee knew she had to make the hard choice. _It's probably for the best..._ She justified. She just couldn't stand seeing Jack got into an ocean of trouble again because of her.

"Look, Jack, just go back to your family… I'll be fine. CTU and FBI will probably gonna put me back in witness protection again once I told them whatever I have on Kirilenko and Pavel Tokerav… That should be enough to convince them to look into both groups of Russians conspirators… " Renee said as she tried to hide all of her pains at the same time. She didn't want to walk away from Jack, but she thought as of now, it was the probably only way she kept Jack out of her mess and she had to do what was best for him.

Even though she tried to hide her somber expression, Jack could still tell that it pained her for saying all that. He wished she could just stop blaming herself for what happened and he wanted to take all of her pain away at this instant. Jack knew what she was trying to do and he really appreciated it, but he would never agree to it. Right now, he just couldn't trust CTU or the FBI. He still remembered what Agent Hoffman told him what happened to Renee this morning, so he simply wouldn't put much faith in witness protection. Jack knew what he had to do in order to protect her. He failed to protect her from Pavel Tokerav that morning and he had failed to protect her from Kirilenko's goons this morning, he was not gonna fail her again.

"Look, Renee I know what you're trying to do and I appreciate it, but right now, we can't trust the CTU or the FBI. They probably have been compromised. That's why I have to do this. It's our only play here…Lugansky is heading for the airport and I'm running out of time. Just stay here. If I'm not back within the hour, head for the address I leave you." Jack said, and after he said that, without giving Renee any chance to object, he grabbed the duffel bag and his HK416 assault rifle and then began to walk away from Renee.

_Damn it, why does he have to be so damn stubborn..._ Renee thought. She couldn't stand by and watch Jack throwing his life away. Since she couldn't convince him to stand down, Renee knew she had no choice but to go with more extreme method. Just as Jack started walking away from her, against all of her instincts, she quickly pulled out her Glock 19 and trained it on Jack.

"Jack!" Renee shouted. She then saw Jack turned around to face her and obviously, he was not happy to see her pointing her sidearm at him. Renee didn't want to threaten Jack at gunpoint, but Jack didn't leave her with much choice here. She thought Jack might hate her for it but she could live with that, as long as her action could get Jack to walk away from all of this trouble and chaos. "I can't let you putting your life on the line for me, not when you're getting your life back…" Renee said with much determination and pain as she continued pointing her gun at him.

At first, Jack was a bit shocked to see Renee pointing her gun at him, but from the looks of her somber expression, he instantly sensed that it pained Renee very much to point a gun at him. He understood why she was doing what she was doing. It was because she believed what she was doing right, which was trying to get him to walk away and reunite with his family. She thought she was protecting him. _Why can't she see he is also doing the same damn thing, protecting her, as well?_ Jack was somewhat annoyed by that. Despite her somewhat reluctant look, Jack knew if push comes to shove, Renee would definitely use her weapon. He remembered the incident involving that poor girl, Marika Donoso. He remembered at the moment, Renee pulled her sidearm on him, threatening him to either back off or help her save Marika, who was trapped inside a burning SUV. He also remembered their subsequent confrontation in the hospital. It was where he told her to be ready to use her weapon if she ever pointed it at him again, and then she told him she did intent to use her sidearm when she was threatening him at the time. Right now, Jack also sensed the exactly same determination from Renee's eyes, which meant she would use the weapon at her hands if she had to. With the window for extracting Lugansky closing fast, Jack knew he needed to defuse the situation with Renee fast.

"Okay, how about this, at least let me take you to some place safe first, and then we'll discuss it…" Jack said as he opened the SUV's rear door and put his duffel bag and his HK416 assault rifle in the SUV's backseat, closed the door, and then opened the door on the driver's side to get into the SUV.

After Renee heard what Jack had said, she simply sighed in relief and re-holstered her Glock 19. She was also relieved that her confrontation with Jack did not escalate any further. Renee just couldn't dare to think what will happen if it did, but overall, she was glad that Jack came to his senses and decided not to throw his life away. As she watched Jack got into driver's side SUV, she also followed suit and got into the passenger's side as well.

"Jack, I'm really sorry I ..." However, before Renee could even completed her sentence, Jack, without any warning, grabbed her left hand and slapped a handcuff on it. Before she could even object to what was happening to her, Jack quickly cuffed the other end of the handcuff to the SUV's steering wheel.

"Jack!" Renee objected as she stared at Jack in both anger and complete disbelief. _What the hell?_ She could not believe what Jack just did to her. Not only did he handcuff her on to the steering wheel, Renee also couldn't believe that Jack just played her.

"Renee, I'm sorry, but I have to do this..." Jack said to Renee apologetically. Truth to be told, he did not want to do this to her, but if handcuffing her to the steering wheel will keep her safe, he will do it. From the look of Renee's eyes, Jack knew she was quite angry at him for the stunt he just pulled, but knowing that Renee will at least be safe for the next couple of minutes, he could live with that. Without missing a beat, Jack quickly got out of the SUV.

"Jack!" Renee pleaded. "You don't have to do this! At least let me help you…"

Despite her plead, it was too late, Jack had already grabbed the duffel bag and the assault rifle from the back seat and started walking away from the SUV. _Damn it Jack..._ Renee thought as she helplessly watched Jack walking away from her. She was angry at him, not only because he handcuffed her, but because he was throwing his life away for the second time. However, she didn't want to give up that easy. She couldn't just let Jack do what he was going to do and became a fugitive for a second time. First things first, she needed to get out of the handcuff that bound her to the steering wheel. Renee quickly began to think of ways to do so...

**12:16:35**

As of now, CTU director Nathan Devlin was in crisis mode. The sniper attack had left his head of field ops dead as well as some of his agents incapacitated. Right now, CTU was clearing the scene and at the same time, LAPD and some of the TAC teams were checking the surrounding buildings in the area for any additional snipers. _How the hell did it happen?_ He wondered as reports continued to flood in from the field. Devlin thought those snipers were possibly the remnants of the IRK extremist cell, but there were reports that indicated this was possibly a deliberate hit on Renee Walker. He thought regardless of what went down, he still needed both Jack Bauer and Renee Walker back at the CTU to sort things out. However, it appeared they had left the scene as soon as the snipers were neutralized and right now, both of them were unaccounted for. Despite he was under orders from the White House, Devlin didn't really trust Jack Bauer and Renee Walker. He considered the former as a murderous criminal and the latter as a rogue ex-Federal agent with questionable conducts. Therefore, the fact that they weren't reported to CTU yet actually raised a giant red flag in his mind. He thought with the Russians invading IRK and the sniper attack, the last thing he needed was to have two rogue assets running around Los Angeles. As he was about to walk into his office to brief the Division on what was happening, one of his analyst, Oscar Montez, approached him.

"Oscar, not now, I have to brief the Division on what happened..." Devlin said after he saw Oscar.

"Sir, you asked me to monitor Chloe O'Brian's activities and I found something suspicious..." Oscar said. "It seems a few minutes ago, she managed to access some of the files she didn't have clearance for..."

"What kind of files?" Devlin asked worriedly.

"Security details on Russian Foreign Minister's escorts, along with the real time position of his motorcade..." Oscar reported as he showed Devlin the access log on his tablet PC. The log was complied by a hidden monitoring program which Oscar used to secretly monitor Chloe's activities. "And she also sent the information to Jack Bauer."

_Why would Bauer want Russian Foreign Minister's location and his security details?_Suddenly a terrifying thought came across his mind. He figured that Jack Bauer was probably planning on going after the Russian Foreign Minister. Otherwise, why would he request the Minister Lugansky's security details and location? _Goddamnit..._ Devlin also thought Jack Bauer probably still felt compelled to go after the Russians again out of spite even with the Russians dropped the charges against him. He thought Renee Walker was probably with Bauer as well, considering she had an axe to grind with the Russians. Not wanting to repeat what happened that afternoon 18 months ago, Devlin quickly ordered.

"Damn it, I think Bauer might be planning on going after the Russian Foreign Minister. Alert the Foreign Minister's details ASAP." As Oscar contacted Minister Lugansky's security details, Devlin quickly called CTU's security and order them to detain Chloe O'Brian. He needed to get Chloe O'Brian off their servers fast before she could compromise CTU's database any further.

At the same time, Chloe was still worried about both Jack and Renee. She knew Jack wanted to protect Renee but she also thought Jack becoming a wanted fugitive again was something Renee definitely wouldn't want to see. However, Chloe also knew that once Jack made up his mind about something, it was next to impossible to change his mind. Therefore, she decided to trust Jack's judgement, like she had done in the past. Plus Chloe also hoped Jack exposed those bastards, considering the tragedy that happened to Renee 18 months ago. Just as she tried to monitor the situation with Jack while stay under CTU technicians' radars, all of the sudden, she noticed two CTU security guards approaching her. _Crap..._

"Mrs. O'Brian, you need to come with us." One of the CTU security guards ordered. Both security guards were now standing behind Chloe.

Although Chloe didn't want to leave her workstation, she didn't have much choice at the moment. As a result, she reluctantly complied with the security guard's order as one of the guard grabbed her by her left arm, forcefully separated her from terminal. Swiftly, both CTU security guards led Chloe away. As Chloe walked past Devlin, who just came into the bullpen, she quickly shot him a dissatisfying look.

After he saw Chloe O'Brian being escorted to the holding, Devlin made a mental note that reminded him to deal with O'Brian later and then shifted his focus to the pressing matter at the hands. "Is Fletcher's team still at that abandon hotel?" Devlin asked one of his analysts.

"Yeah..."

"Send them the Russian Foreign Minister's position and tell them to get to him fast. Contact LAPD as well. We believe Jack Bauer and Renee Walker are gonna attack the Russian Foreign Minister's motorcade…" The CTU director ordered, and then he turned to everyone in the bullpen. "I want eyes on all traffic cams. I want satellite and drone supports. Let's move people!"

**12:22:57**

At the moment, the motorcade carrying the Russian Foreign Minister was speeding through the street of Los Angeles. The motorcade consisted of a limousine and two black sedans in front and in the back of the limousine separately. Each black sedan carried a four men security team and those men had their Kevlar vests on as well as their MP5k submachine guns in their hands. In inside the limousine, the head of the security for the Russian Consulate in Los Angeles, Sergei Gorlovich, was riding shotgun. Because of the kidnapping that happened two hours before, the Russians had taken a lot of precautions to prevent similar situation from happening again. As the motorcade travelled through the city, the Russian Foreign Minister, Seymon Lugansky set aside the intelligence briefing documents he was reading and looked through the window. As he stared into the deserted street, Lugansky let out a heavy sigh. Right now, Russian forces were continuing their offenses against IRK. Although the war between Russia and IRK was a possibility he had anticipated, he still thought it shouldn't have happened, especially due to the current predicament. Lugansky also thought since they had crossed the point of no return, he probably needed to ask his aides to draw out some possible diplomatic scenarios concerning the on-going conflict, assuming he still had his job as a Foreign Minister after he gets back to Moscow. Module 67 he was carrying was stolen and it was believed that IRK operatives were in possession of it. Lugansky knew he was definitely gonna get reprimanded for that, but he just didn't know how serious his reprimands will be. Just as he began to wonder about that, he heard Gorlovich's phone rang

After seeing the caller was CTU, Gorlovich answered. However, what he heard surprised and shocked him. The CTU was telling him that Jack Bauer was going after Minister Lugansky and he was on his way. Upon hearing that, Gorlovich's rage boiled. He was angry that criminal was attempting to go after the Foreign Minister after he had killed one 18 months ago._That son of a bitch..._

At the same time, the motorcade was coming to an intersection. Before Gorlovich could radio his team, all of the sudden a truck seemingly came out of nowhere crashed into left side of the first black sedan. Due to its speed and momentum, the truck then effortlessly pushed the leading black sedan away from the motorcade. The force of the impact not only mangled the left side of the black sedan, it also shattered the sedan's windows and knocked all of the occupants inside unconscious as well. Upon seeing what happened to the lead car, the driver of the limousine quickly slammed the brake, forcefully causing the vehicle to come to a screeching stop. The black sedan at the back of the limousine followed suit. As the truck stopped pushing the wrecked black sedan to the side of the road, the symphony consisted of twisting metals and screeching tires came to a stop as well. After seeing what happened, Gorlovich instinctively radioed his men to get ready to deal with the incoming threat.

After using the stolen truck to take out the lead car, Jack quickly climbed out of the truck from its left side door. He was wearing a tactical vest over the same Kevlar vest he had wore during the assault on the IRK extremists hideout. There were various items inside the pouches which were Velcroed on his tactical vest. Items such as magazines, flashbangs, CS gas grenades, and 40mm CS gas rounds for the M320 grenade launcher module attached to the HK 416 assault rifle he was currently holding. The assault rifle also had EOTech Holographic sight and AN/PEQ-15 laser designators attached to it as well. Jack was also wearing a gas mask with one-piece protective lens design, giving him a wide field vision and the mask also hid his face as well. He understood since he didn't have the benefits of full body armors as in last time he extracted that slime ball, Charles Logan, he needed to rely on both speed and the element of surprise. After he got out of the stolen truck, he briskly tossed a primed CS gas grenade through the shattered windshield of the wrecked sedan. The CS gas quickly dissipated from the grenade and rendered the already dazed security team inside the sedan incapacitated. Jack then quickly went around the garbage truck and spotted the limousine at his 12 o'clock direction. Didn't want to give the driver any chance of speeding away, Jack aimed down his scope and opened fire at the engine block of the limousine. His bullets punctured the hood and impacts sent sparks flying in every direction.

At the same time, after seeing what was happening, Gorlovich quickly ordered his remaining security team to engage the incoming threat. Holding his MP-443 Grach pistol, He wanted to get out of the limousine and try to deal with the lone attacker, but protecting the principal remained his top priority. Therefore, after ordering the driver to stay alert, Gorlovich turned around and told Lugansky to stay down. Lugansky complied and himself as small as possible. What happened earlier still haunted him and now it was happening again. He thought he was being attacked again by those IRK extremists. _Those persistent bastards…_ He thought. Right now, all Lugansky could do was to pray that the cavalry could show up in time.

After disabling the limo, Jack noticed that a four men security team was emerging from the black sedan behind the limo. Using the car doors as partial cover, those men held their MP5k submachine gun up and opened fire at Jack's direction. Jack, on the other hand, quickly sought cover behind the truck. After he was behind the tail of the truck, he peeked around the corner and returned fire. Some of his shots shattered the right front door window of the sedan and hit the bodyguard behind it. The shots landed on his Kevlar vests and the impacts from those bullets effectively knocked him down to the ground. Jack knew those men were just security officers doing their jobs and they probably had nothing to do with the hit on Renee. Therefore, he planned to use non-lethal force and keep the casualties as low as he could. After firing a couple of shots at those security personnel, Jack then fired a 40mm CS gas round at them from his M320 grenade launcher module. The 40mm CS gas round landed in front of the black sedan and the CS gas quickly dissipated from it in large volume. After firing the 40mm CS gas round, Jack quickly took out a CS gas grenade and then threw it toward the right side of the black sedan. As a result, now area around the black sedan and behind the limousine was now covered in a thick fog of tear gas in a very short period of time. Without any proper protection and caught completely by surprise, the four security officers near the black sedan quickly felt the effect of CS gas. They began coughing violently and they felt like their lungs, skins, and eyes were burning as they breathed in the CS gas. They were effectively out of the fight. Seeing that the security detail was incapacitated by the CS gas, Jack loaded another 40mm CS round into tube of his M320 grenade launcher and stepped out of his cover.

After hearing the near panic responds from his men over the radio, Gorlovich knew Jack Bauer was using CS gas. _This is not good…_ He worried. He had already radioed CTU again and telling them to send help as soon as possible. After talking to CTU on his radio, Gorlovich saw Jack, emerging from his cover behind the truck, opened fired at the limo's windshield. Even though the windshield was made of the bullet resistant glass, the specialized ammunition Jack was using was able to put a dent on it. Fractured lines instantly appeared upon each bullet's impact. Just as Gorlovich thought it was safe since he figured Jack's bullets couldn't penetrated the bullet resistant glass, all of the sudden, he saw Jack fired the 40mm CS gas round from his grenade launcher at the fractured windshield. Travelling at an arced trajectory and with enough velocity, the 40mm CS gas round easily punctured the already weakened windshield and landed right at the center of the limousine. As that 40mm round quickly filled the limousine with large volume of CS gas smoke, Gorlovich cursed. _That guy is trying to smoke us out…_ Before he began coughing violent from the effect of the CS gas, he shouted loudly in Russian, telling Lugansky to stay inside the vehicle. Lugansky, on the other hand, also suffered the effect of the CS gas. Without giving it a thought, he quickly opened the limo's left door crawled out the vehicle. Unfortunately for him, there was also CS gas smoke outside as well. Even though he tried to use his tie to cover his mouth and nose, he still inhaled some of the CS gas and its chemical residue still got into his eyes. As a result, Lugansky was now on his knees, coughing and crying involuntarily at the same time.

After Jack shot the 40mm CS gas grenade into the limo, he expected Lugansky and whoever was inside the limo with him to come out of the vehicle as quick as they can. He remembered 18 months ago, he used the same method to get that bastard Charles Logan out of his limo, and right now, he found himself doing the same thing again, but to a different person. A few seconds later, as he expected, the limo's left side door opened and he saw a silhouette amidst the smoke screen composed of CS gas crawled out from it. Jack was sure it was the Russian Foreign Minister. However, just as he was about to emerge from behind the cover of the truck, Jack heard the sound of distance sirens. _Damn it, how the hell did LAPD get here that fast?_He cursed. He had considered the LAPD respond time and thought he had way more time than he currently had. Knowing he was running out of time, Jack figured he needed to extract the Russian Foreign Minister quickly and get him to somewhere so he could interrogate him. With his rifle raised, Jack briskly and carefully moved toward Lugansky's position. As he got close, he saw Lugansky, who already collapsed on his side, continued coughing violently from the CS gas. Just as Jack was moved in to secure Lugansky, he caught some movements in the corner of his left eye. Without missing a beat, he swiftly swung his assault rifle to that direction and saw Gorlovich, who just got out the CS gas filled limo, was trying to point his pistol at Jack. Despite the fact that he inhaled some CS gas, Gorlovich went through rigorous NBC trainings during his time spent in Russian military. He knew how to tough it out in situations like the one he was facing right now. That being said, his reaction was still greatly inhibited by the effects of CS gas. Upon seeing Gorlovich, Jack instinctively shot at him. His bullets slammed into Gorlovich's bullet proof vest and instantly knocked him to the ground. After taking care of Gorlovich, Jack turned his attention to the Russian Foreign Minister again. He grabbed a still coughing Lugansky, forced him to be on his feet. However, even under the effect of CS gas, Lugansky still wanted to make it difficult for his kidnapper and refused to move his legs. As a result, Jack was forced to drag him as he began to flee the scene. However, the sounds of sirens were getting even closer and louder than minutes before. He figured LAPD will be on him at anytime soon and he needed to find a place to hide. Just as Jack began to scan the area and look for any alley way or abandoned buildings, all of the sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, a SUV drove up and came to a screeching stop not far from Jack and Lugansky. Before Jack could figure out what the hell was going on, the driver's side door opened.

"Jack! Get in!" Renee shouted, then quickly covered he nose and mouth with her arm the instant she smelled CS gas. Even though Jack handcuffed her left hand onto the steering wheel, she was not about to give up on trying to stop Jack from ruining his own life because her. Determined to stop Jack, Renee used one of her hair pins to pick Jack's handcuff. After she was free, first thing she did was turning on the police radio in the SUV to check every law enforcement channel, hoping that Jack was not in trouble yet. Unfortunately, from the police radio, she heard the shocking news that the Russian Foreign Minister's motorcade was attacked and the assailant was likely to be Jack Bauer. While she blamed herself for failing to stop Jack, Renee also knew that LAPD were closing on Jack's location fast and Jack will be probably in trouble if he got apprehended. After hearing location of the attack from the inter-agency broadcast, she quickly drove to the scene. Fortunately, Renee arrived at the scene before LAPD show up.

_Damn it…What the hell is she doing here putting herself in danger like this?_ Jack was shocked to see Renee. At first, he was a bit angry at her. Not only he didn't want Renee to be in a dangerous situation like this one, he also didn't want her to be involved in the abduction of the Russian Foreign Minister. Since she showed up, she was now his accomplice in the crime he just committed, and the authority will probably be looking for her too. _Damn it, Renee…_ Jack knew he probably needed to sort this out with Renee later, but right now, he and Renee needed to get away from the scene fast. Without missing a beat, he quickly carried Lugansky to the SUV. After he shoved Lugansky into the backseat, he hopped into the backseat as well and told Renee to gun it. Renee complied and quickly drove away from the scene of the attack before LAPD arrived. After telling Renee to hightail out of the scene, Jack took out his USP Compact pistol and clocked Lugansky on his head, effectively knocking the Russian Foreign Minister out.

As she kept her focus on the road, Renee took a brief look at Jack from her rear view mirror. Despite what Jack did minutes ago, she was glad and relieved to see that Jack was alright. She quickly gave him an 'Are you alright?' look. Jack, while tying up Lugansky's hands with zip ties, noticed Renee was checking up on him through the rear view mirror. He then quickly nodded, signalling 'I'm fine' back at her. Despite the fact that he was still a bit angry at her for putting herself at risk, Jack appreciated that she stick up for him. He also gave her a 'Thank you' look and then focused his attention on the Russian Foreign Minister. Right now, with Lugansky at his custody, he knew what he needed to find out who exactly were after Renee so he could protect her from those monsters.

**12:36:51**

At the moment, General Rawlins was on the phone with the mercenary leader, Erik Kessler. Not only that he wanted to check to see the progress made on decrypting Module 67, he also wanted Kessler to have a few of his teams ready to deploy at the moment of notice. Truth to be told, Rawlins wasn't happy that Kessler's snipers failed to take out Renee Walker. Originally, he wanted Renee Walker eliminated to ensure the war between Russia and IRK continued. He also thought once Renee Walker was taken out, he could use this opportunity to string along Jack and sic him to the Russians by manipulating the evidence surrounding Renee Walker's murder. However, right now, Renee Walker wasn't dead and both she and Jack seemed to go underground. Rawlins tried to theorize what Jack's next course of action might be. He figured Jack would probably try to hide Renee Walker in some safe house first and then go after whoever sent the snipers. If that was the case then he could have Kessler's team hit the safe house while Jack was away. Rawlins also thought about who Jack could be going after. He figured there are a very small chance Jack figured out it was him and the possibility of Jack going after the Russians were huge, considering his personal history with them 18 months ago. Despite his possible theories, Rawlins knew he needed locate Jack Bauer and Renee Walker first and have them monitored before he could formulate his next move. That was why he wanted Kessler to have his men on standby. However, Kessler seemed to be a bit unhappy about it.

"General, with all due respect, my men have taken a lot more casualties than expected in our previous op, and I needed some of them to guard my base of operation during the decryption of the module. We're stretched thin…" Kessler stated in his usual professional tone over the phone. He knew General Rawlins had his own men and resources, but he didn't want to use those simply because he wanted to keep his hands clean. That was why Rawlins hired him and his men to do his dirty works. Kessler was already a bit displeased about conducting an armed assault on the FBI field office hours ago. _If Bauer did what he was suppose to do this morning, putting a bullet into Kirilenko's skull, my men wouldn't have to storm a building full of armed Federal agents and taken huge casualties…_Despite his slight misgivings, Kessler still didn't want to offend the man who cut their paychecks.

"Mr. Kessler, I understood your situation, but unfortunately, both Walker, and possibly, Bauer, is becoming a threat to our operation and they needed to be taken care of ASAP. I've already deployed my drones over the city. Plus you and I both have access to CTU's system. Once we have more intel on Bauer and Walker I'll let you know our next course of actions." Rawlins said. He knew Kessler was unhappy about the casualties his men had taken, but the success of the operation had to come first. Just as he was about to wrap up the conversation with Kessler, he noticed, his aide, Lieutenant Shaw, knocked on his door again. Rawlins then signalled him to come in as he hanged up the phone.

"Sir, you need to hear this." Lieutenant Shaw stated urgently after he stepped into his boss' office. "A few minutes ago, Bauer has successfully abducted the Russian Foreign Minister, and it's possible that Walker was with him too. Right now, CTU is trying to locate the all three of them as we speak."

Upon hearing what his aide said, Rawlins then began thinking about the new development and he couldn't help but to get a bit amused. _I was right… Bauer is going after the Russians, which means he thinks the Russians are the one who ordered those snipers. He is actually following my plan without my intervention._ He mused.

"What are your orders, Sir?" Lieutenant Shaw asked.

"I want them found and I want eyes on them. See if you can locate them through our IKON reconnaissance satellite. As usual, classify it as an NSA request from a black op dropbox so it won't raise any flag. Once you have their position redeploy our drones over to the area. Before we send Kessler's men in I want to know what Bauer and Walker are doing with the Russian Foreign Minister first." Rawlins said. Despite being a bit more optimistic, he still wanted to approach the situation cautiously, since he was dealing with a wild card like Jack Bauer.

"I'll get right on it, sir." Lieutenant Shaw said, and then he set down his laptop and started typing away.

**12:40:17**

After driving for a short while, Renee drove the SUV to an area under an abandoned highway overpass. Both her and Jack knew they needed to lay low for the time being and the area under the overpass was an ideal place to do so. The towering highway overpasses literally shielded them from aerial surveillance and at the moment, the place seemed quite desolated. However, that doesn't mean the place wasn't void of danger. Therefore, after parking the SUV, Renee quickly scanned the surrounding area. The walls and columns supporting the overpass were covered with various colorful graffiti and there were a few rusted empty shopping carts, beat-up boxes, and miscellaneous garbage litters lying around in the area as well. So far, there was not a single soul in sight. Jack also did the same thing and he didn't see anyone around. The last thing he and Renee need was to have some two-bit criminal elements showing up out of nowhere. After making sure the area was clear, both Jack and Renee got out of the SUV, leaving a tied up Lugansky inside.

"Renee, look…" Jack said to her.

"Jack, we're not going through this again. What's done is done and I'm doing this with you. End of the discussion." Renee said in a very determined tone. She knew that right now, Jack was already in a great deal of trouble for kidnapped the Russian Foreign Minister. Because of that, there was no going back for him. Renee simply couldn't stand to see Jack in trouble, but it was already too late to do anything about it. Therefore, despite her misgiving on Jack kidnapping the Russian Foreign Minister in an attempt to go after the people trying to kill her, she decided to help him and see the whole thing through with him. At the same time, Renee also thought she needed to think a way for Jack to get out of this quagmire so he can get back to his family safe and burden free. She didn't know how right now but she figured she'll think of something along the way.

Originally, Jack wanted to tell Renee to distance herself from him because he didn't want Renee to become an accomplice in the kidnapping and the subsequent interrogation of the Russian Foreign Minister. She already had two groups of people trying to kill her and the last thing she needed was to have authorities looking to apprehend her because of her involvement in his rogue operation. However, right now, she was already involved and from her determined look, Jack knew Renee already made up her mind and she was not backing down. He understood she was worried about him but he also wished that she wouldn't risk her life because of him. Therefore, after some deliberation, Jack decided to let her tag along with him only on the interrogation, and he decided to place Renee in some place safe afterward.

"Renee… You sure you want to do this? " Jack asked. Despite the fact he knew what her answer will be, he still wanted to give Renee a final chance to back out of this rogue operation clean.

Renee simply gave Jack a nod, telling him she knew what she was getting into and she was ready for it. She figured that if she could stay with Jack, she could try to make sure nothing bad happens to him. Renee thought it was at least she could do for him right now before she figures out of a way to get Jack out of this mess. After seeing that Jack acknowledged her wish and then turned his attention to the SUV, Renee knew what Jack was gonna do to Lugansky. Understandingly, she took several steps back from the vehicle, giving Jack the space he needed for his interrogation.

After his brief conversation with Renee, Jack then opened the trunk of the SUV to grab something he needed. After he emerged from the back of the SUV with a bottled water, he opened the SUV backdoor and saw that Lugansky, who was still unconscious at the moment. Jack then started dripping the bottled water he has holding on Lugansky.

"What the hell…" Lugansky shouted angrily as he was suddenly awakened by the water dripping all over his head and face.

However, before the Russian Foreign Minister could realize what was going on, Jack grabbed him and forcefully dragged him out of the SUV. After getting Lugansky out of the vehicle, Jack grabbed him by his collar and then he literally slammed his back onto the left side the SUV.

At the same time, after being slammed onto the side of the SUV, Lugansky finally got a good look on one of his captors. To his confusion and shock, the person who was currently in his face was none other than Jack Bauer, the man who had saved him twice during the past few hours when he had every reason to let him die. He could easily guess why Bauer kidnapped him. Lugansky knew about the false promise that his boss, President Suvarov, and President Hayworth made. The false promise stated that his government would drop all of their charges against Jack Bauer if Jack Bauer helped CTU recovering him safely from those IRK extremists. In fact, Suvariv told him everything over the phone after he got rescued. Although Lugansky did not agree with his boss on this matter, he decided to not to push it partly because he didn't want to lose his job, and partly because there were more pressing matter than Jack Bauer at the time. He figured Bauer must somehow found out about the betrayal on Suvarov's part and he was probably gonna kill him because of it.

"Are you going to kill me, like you did to my predecessor?" Lugansky asked. His voice was still a bit shaky with fear even though he tried to hide it.

"That depends." Jack said coldly. "18 months ago, your predecessor, Mikhail Novakovich, who was under orders from President Yuri Suvarov, ordered the hit on a former FBI agent named Renee Walker. Do you know anything about that?"

"I don't know anything about that…" Lugansky lied. He knew exactly what happened in New York 18 months ago. Although he was thankful that Jack saved his life from those mercenaries and IRK extremists, he was not willing to divulge any information that could implicated the current Russian administration in the crimes that happened 18 months ago.

"I don't believe you…" Jack could easily tell that Lugansky lied to his face. He thought even if he was not involved, the man in his position must have known something about this matter.

"Believe what you want, but my government has nothing to do with that…"

Upon hearing what Lugansky said, Jack suddenly felt a flash of rage. The images of Renee lying helpless on the floor of his bedroom with blood gushing out of her gunshot wound and struggling to breath as blood filled up inside her lung suddenly appeared inside his head. Those bastards took Renee from him on that fateful morning and they weren't even held accountable for what happened. As his rage boiled, Jack channelled his rage at Lugansky. Therefore, in one swift motion, he drew his USP Compact with his right hand and held the barrel close to Lugansky's forehead.

"Don't play games with me. A man in your position definitely knows what exactly was going on behind the scene in Kremlin… You knew who Renee Walker is and you recognized her in that abandoned hotel… Is that why you sent a team to take her out?" Jack asked angrily in his low gravel voice.

At the same time, Renee simply stood nearby and observed Jack's interrogation. Although she trusted Jack to know what he was doing, there was still a small part of her wanted to stop Jack's interrogation before it got out of hands. However, there was also a small part of her that wanted Jack to physically torture that bastard. She was angry at those people who had made her and Jack's lives so miserable in the past 18 months. Every hope and dream was shattered in that fateful morning and they then were suddenly plunged into an abyss of darkness afterward. Right now, those people seemed to be continuing doing so. _Why can't they just leave us alone…?_ She thought bitterly.

At the moment, although Lugansky tried to hide it, he was terrified. He knew what Jack Bauer did to Novakovich and Novakovich's errand boy, Pavel Tokerav, so he knew Jack had absolutely no problem executing him on spot. Lugansky didn't want to be Jack Bauer's next victim, but he was quite confused by what he said. _Sending a team to take Renee Walker out? That woman has been dead for the past 18 months…_ Therefore, despite his confusion, Lugansky decided to tell Jack the truth.

"I don't know what you are talking about? I didn't send a team...and why would I try to kill a person who has been dead for the past 18 months?"

From Lugansky's expression, Jack thought he probably wasn't lying. It seemed Lugansky still though Renee was dead, which meant he did not recognize Renee in that abandoned hotel and his boss, Suvarov, still had no idea that Renee was still alive. As a result, Jack lowered his weapon. As much as Jack wanted to feel relieved, he simply couldn't. Since Suvarov and Lugansky did not send those snipers, which meant Kirilenko's associates did, and he had no idea who they were and where they were. _Damn it..._

After seeing Jack lowered his weapon, Lugansky simply let out a sigh of relief. He just didn't want to get killed for something he had absolutely no involvement with. Lugansky then decided to shift his attention away from Jack for a moment. That was when he began to notice an auburn haired woman standing nearby. He knew the auburn haired woman as the CTU agent who saved him from getting executed by those IRK terrorists on live internet broadcast. _What the hell is she, a seemingly stand-up CTU agent, doing here with that criminal Jack Bauer_? He was absolutely baffled by the woman's presence. All of the sudden, something began to register inside his brain. Something Jack said. _Bauer claimed I recognize Renee Walker at that abandoned hotel and at the time, that auburn haired woman was also at the scene... Oh my God... That woman is Renee Walker!_ Amazed by his discovery, Lugansky he looked into Renee's direction and asked.

"Renee Walker, I presume?"

_Damn it! He recognized her now..._ Jack was now kicking himself for letting Renee participated in the interrogation. He thought he should hide Renee somewhere before he began interrogating Lugansky. However, since Lugansky now identified Renee, Jack knew he had to do the unthinkable in order to protect her. He figured Lugansky will probably report what he knew to his boss, so he had to make sure there was no loose end. Without any hesitation, Jack trained his USP Compact at Lugansky again. He was ready to pull the trigger.

Meanwhile, after seeing Jack Bauer trained his weapon at him again, Lugansky instantly realized what was going on. He knew because now he ID'ed Renee Walker, who, apparently, was still alive, and as a result, Bauer was going to kill him so that Moscow won't learn her existence. Lugansky also knew from the looks of Jack Bauer's eyes, he was ready to pull the trigger. As his fear became full blown, Lugansky shouted in panic.

"Look! I won't tell anyone she's alive! I promise!"

After hearing what Lugansky said, Jack remained unconvinced. Renee was probably the only loose end that could tie Russian government to the crimes in New York 18 months ago. Knowing Lugansky, he would put his country's interest first and tell his boss about Renee. Jack thought right now, with Kirilenko's associates going after Renee, the last thing she needs was to have Suvarov's goons going after her as well. Suddenly, Jack was again reminded of the terrifying sight of Renee, lying on the floor of his apartment with blood gushing out of her gunshot wound and staining the white sheet that wrapped around her. He remembered the horrible sight of her, lying lifelessly on the operating table; even he did everything in his power to get her to the hospital in time. Jack knew he simply couldn't let that happened to Renee again and right now, he knew killing Lugansky will prevent that.

Upon seeing Jack remained unconvinced, Lugansky quickly explained. "If it's Moscow you're worried about, I can personally assure you that Suvarov probably could care less about her. Suvarov wouldn't have given his consent to the hit if he knew Charles Logan was gonna blackmail him later that morning… From what I know, Novakovich ordered the hit on her because of the possibility that she could identify one of our operatives named Pavel Tokerav at the scene of President Hassan's murder. Right now, Pavel Tokerav is a nonperson. We erased him. What she saw on that day doesn't matter to us now… Plus, my government has more pressing matters than dealing with…"

"Jack!" Renee said as she watched Jack raised his gun at Lugansky again. She knew Jack was thinking about killing the Russian Foreign Minister because the Russian Foreign Minister now knew she was still alive. Kidnapping the Russian Foreign Minister and interrogating him was one thing, but executing him in cold blood was another. Therefore, she felt she needed to step in before Jack does the unthinkable. Renee simply didn't want to see Jack getting into more trouble than he already had because of her. Renee thought she had already dragged Jack into her mess again, so she needed to do everything in her power not to make the situation any worse for Jack.

Renee's voice somehow reminded Jack something. If he killed the Russian Foreign Minister, which means Renee will also become an accessory to the murder, since she aided him in the Russian Foreign Minister's abduction a few minutes ago. Jack didn't want that to happen to Renee. It was his responsibility to bear and he couldn't drag Renee into that. Therefore, Jack holstered his weapon and took a moment to process what Lugansky said. Truth to be told, he did not completely believe Lugansky, but he also thought some of the things he said had some merits, such as his government now was dealing with more pressing matters like the war with IRK so him and Renee might not be their top priority right now. That being said, Jack still thought he probably had to deal with Lugansky later since he still considered him a liability. _After I grill him about Kirilenko's associates first_... He thought. However, just as he was about to ask Lugansky about that topic, Renee beat him to it.

"Mr. Lugansky, we know Kirilenko was the one behind the terrorist attack that happened in Moscow 3 weeks ago, not the IRK operatives. He's the one who wants your country to go to war with IRK. Even though he was dead, we believe his friends are continuing what he started. They are probably behind the attack on the FBI field office and your subsequent abduction. Can you tell us anything about Kirilenko's friends?"

"You're right, Kirilenko got friends...Hardliners who shared similar views, but those guys couldn't have done it. Even if they wanted a war with IRK, they wouldn't go this far..." Lugansky said.

"You mean attacking an FBI field office and handing you a IRK terrorist cell? Mr. Lugansky, Kirilenko killed thousands of innocent civilians just to further his own objectives. Who's to say his friends won't do something similar..." Renee said with a slight hint of anger. She couldn't believe Lugansky was willing to defend Kirilenko's friends after he was kidnapped and almost executed on live internet.

"Is there something you want to tell us?" Jack cut in abruptly, after he noticed that Lugansky seemed to be holding something back. He figured he definitely knew something about Kirilenko's associates.

"I can't..." Lugansky said. He did not want to divulge classified information to both Jack Bauer and Renee Walker. It was part of his responsibilities to safeguard his nation's secrets.

"You can't or you won't?" Jack said menacingly. He was tired of Lugansky's reluctance of answering their questions. He knew they were short on time and he had to turn the heat up to make Lugansky talk, which means he had to torture Lugansky. Without any hesitation, he reached for one of his pockets and took out a Microtech HALO knife.

After seeing the knife, Lugansky suddenly felt a chill running through his spine. He started to fear what Jack was going to do with him. He remembered reading the reports on Pavel Tokerav. The operative was literally gutted like a fish by Jack Bauer. Although there was no picture in those reports, Lugansky still couldn't help but to feel terrified upon reading those lines describing what happened. Right now, he feared that same thing was about to happen to him. Frightened by the possibility of being gutted by Jack Bauer, Lugansky felt he had no choice but to tell Jack and Renee everything.

"Kirilenko's friend couldn't have been behind my abduction and those IRK terrorists... They maybe hardliners who wanted to invade IRK, but they aren't stupid enough to hand an important piece of our military technologies to those IRK bastards just so they could have their war..."

"What do you mean?" Renee asked. She and Jack were confused by what Lugansky just said.

"Look, I'm not supposed to tell you this. I think those mercenaries stole my encrypted satellite phone and handed it to those IRK terrorists. That satellite phone contains Module 67, a military grade communication module that enables me to talk to Moscow securely through our military network. We started issuing those phones with Module 67 to top ranking government officials when they are on overseas diplomatic missions because we don't want your NSA's Echelon Network to eavesdrop on our conversations…Right now, mine is missing and it's possibly at the hands of some IRK operatives. The module also contains the encryption and decryption protocols for our military communication network so that means our military communication network has been compromised by IRK! We have no choice but to initiate a pre-emptive strike before they could completely figure out how to crack the encryption…That's the unofficial reason why we invaded IRK. The terrorist attacks are the official ones that we give to the world…"

_Oh my God…_ Jack was shocked by Lugansky's revelation. He turned to Renee and found her also turned to face him as well. She was also equally shocked by what Lugansky said. Despite the Lugansky's shocking revelation, Jack thought what he told him made sense. Kirilenko and his friends were hardliners. Some of them were probably military officials. They weren't stupid enough to compromise their military network just so they could start a war with IRK. It was like shooting themselves in the foot before the fight. Therefore, Kirilenko's associates weren't the ones behind those mercenaries and IRK extremist. That meant they weren't the ones who tried to catalyze the situation into a full blown war, and therefore, they probably had no reason to go after Renee. Upon realizing that, Jack was now becoming extremely worried. Since neither Suvarov or Kirilenko's associates were behind the attempt on Renee's life, then who was? He was now finding himself facing enemies who he had absolutely no knowledge of. However, Jack was certain about one thing: whoever was after Renee wanted the war to happen. If the world learned about the truth behind the terrorist attack in Moscow, then the Russians would have no justification for invading IRK. They definitely didn't want the world to know that their military communication network had been compromised so they couldn't use that as justification publically. Regardless of those people's identities, Jack figured he needed to hide Renee in some place safe first, before he could try to figure the whole thing out.

"I need to make a call…" He said to her, and then he stepped away from both Renee and Lugansky.

Renee figured Jack was probably gonna call Chloe to update her on what they had found, so she decided to stay put and guard Lugansky. She also thought Lugansky was definitely telling the truth. However, since Suvarov didn't know about her still being alive and Kirilenko's associates were not behind those attacks aimed to initiate the war between Russia and IRK, Renee wondered who else wanted her dead. Despite she didn't know who wanted to kill her, she was certain that it definitely have something to do with her knowledge of Kirilenko's false flag operation which could possibly stop the war. Just as she began trying to piece together all of the information she had in order to found out who exactly put a hit on her, Lugansky's voice interrupted her train of thoughts.

"Look, Ms. Walker… I want to thank you for saving me back in the abandoned hotel. You have every reason to let me die but you still saved me, and I'm really grateful for that…" Lugansky said to Renee sincerely. "… and I want to say I'm sorry for what happened to you 18 months ago… For what it's worth, I was not involved in that and I certainly did not agree with what my predecessor and my President did… I will not tell Moscow that you are still alive. Your secret is safe with me…"

Even though Renee acknowledged Lugansky's sincere apologies, she still couldn't forgive what was done to her and Jack in that morning. Both of their lives were shattered and then later plunged into the dark abyss, all because those Russians wanted to cover up the crimes they had committed. Every night for the past 18 months, she still had nightmares about that fateful morning. She still had nightmares about what could have happened to Jack if Russians caught up with him. She couldn't just white-wash those emotional scars away. Renee then tried to take her mind off those nightmares by thinking about what was happening. Since either Suvarov or Kirilenko's associates wanted her dead, she wondered who exactly was after her, and more importantly, other than Kirilenko, who was really behind the conspiracy to start a war between Russia and IRK? As she tried to go over Jack's conversation with Lugansky mentally, suddenly, something popped out in her head.

"Since you have nothing to do with what happened 18 months ago, why did you assume Jack was trying to kill you like he did with your predecessor?" Renee wondered.

Lugansky hesitated for a brief moment, pondering on the choice of whether to tell Renee Walker about the betrayal on his boss and President Hayworth's part. He was afraid Jack Bauer would probably kill him after knowing that, but on the other hand, he also thought Jack Bauer deserved to know the truth, considering he had rescued him twice in the past few hours. Plus, he already told both Jack and Renee the classified information regarding Module 67. Therefore, he saw no point of keeping the secret from both of them. With a heavy sigh, Lugansky explained.

"Your President wanted Mr. Bauer to help with CTU's rescue efforts, but knowing Mr. Bauer's history with my government, your President was convinced that he needed some extra incentives to get Mr. Bauer to help. Therefore, he talked the matter of dropping charges against Mr. Bauer with my President. However, I'm afraid the discussion was nothing more than a charade. My government has no intention of dropping charges against Mr. Bauer and apparently,your President has no intention of convincing us to do so in the first place either. He just told Mr. Bauer what he wanted to hear so that he would help…"

Renee was completely caught off guard by what Lugansky just told her. She felt like she had been sucker-punched by someone. At the same time, she also became extremely angry as well. All of the time she thought Jack was going to get his life back again and that turned out to be nothing but a lie. A lie constructed by President Hayworth and the Russian President just so they could get Jack to help them. Renee felt betrayed. She was disgusted by the fact that those politicians would betray Jack like that, even after he helped CTU saved the Russian Foreign Minister._How the hell could they do that to him?_She thought as her heart ached for Jack.

"I'm really sorry…" Lugansky apologized sincerely after seeing Renee's sad and angered look. Truth to be told, he wasn't happy at what his boss did either, but there was nothing he could done to change his boss' mind.

After hearing Lugansky's apology, Renee quickly shot him a cold, angry stare. She didn't want Lugansky's apology. She wanted Jack to have his life back. As rage boiled inside her, Renee wanted to pull out her side arm and take her anger out on Lugansky. Her sensible self quickly prevent her from doing so. She couldn't lose it again and repeated what she had done to Alan Wilson and Kirilenko. She didn't want to get Jack into more trouble than the ones he was already in. Plus, she also knew Lugansky didn't have anything to do with the betrayal, since he was being held captive by IRK extremists at the time. Holding her tears, Renee continued staring at Lugansky with intense anger while trying hard to refrain herself from taking her anger out on Lugansky at the same time. She knew she needed to tell Jack about what Lugansky just told her, but she didn't know how to break the news to him…

Meanwhile, after he was out of Lugansky's earshot, Jack took out his phone. He was going to call Chloe but he quickly realized that CTU probably had found out what Chloe did and they probably had detained her. Otherwise, LAPD couldn't have gotten to the scene o attack that fast. _Damn it…_He cursed. Jack knew ever since that morning 18 months ago, a lot of his old friends and associates weren't very keen on letting a hand to him due to the fact that in covert intelligence term, he was considered to be very toxic because of what he had done on that day. As he scrambled his head to think of someone who could possibly help him and Renee at the moment, he thought of one person. Although Jack wasn't really sure about this person, he didn't really have any option right now. Therefore, he dialled the number. A brief moment later, he heard a familiar voice from the headset.

"Jack, what the hell is going on? I got reports that say you kidnapped the Russian Foreign Minister?" General Rawlins asked, while pretending to be shocked and oblivious to what was happening at the same time. Prior to picking up the phone, Rawlins was able to find out it was Jack calling him. Therefore, he already had his aide trying to trace the call as he conversed with Jack over the phone.

"General, I need a favor… I need you to place someone in the military protective custody…" Jack said in low voice. Despite his instinct kept telling him not to trust General Rawlins in the back of his head, but so far, he thought there was no reason not to trust the Rawlins either. He thought Rawlins could have sent men to take him out after he failed to assassinate Kirilenko in order to cover his tracks, but he did not do so. He even offered his help to take down Kirilenko over the phone. Therefore, Jack figured he could trust him. He also thought by placing Renee in the protective military custody, she will probably be placed inside a military base. Jack figured whoever were after Renee definitely wouldn't dare to attack a military base just to get to her. Renee would be safe at least.

"Before I agree to anything, mind if I ask who do you want me to put in military protective custody?" Rawlins asked while playing dumb as the same time. He figured the person who Jack wanted him to put in military protective custody was Renee Walker. _Bauer wants my help to protect Walker, which means he's willing to deliver Walker to me. Just as I was worried about how to locate ._ He thought.

Jack knew he had to let Rawlins know it was Renee since he was the one who will be placing her in military protective custody. After a very brief hesitation, he said. "It's Renee Walker..."

"Hold on a minute, son, Renee Walker died 18 months ago…" Rawlins stated as he continued playing dumb.

"General, she's actually alive." Jack said with a slight smile. In his wildest dream he would never thought Renee was still alive, and he was overjoyed to see her after all these 18 months. Therefore, Jack had sworn he would not fail to protect her this time around. "The FBI had her in witness protection but somehow Kirilenko found out about her. He also found out she was able to connect him to the nerve gas attack in Moscow this morning and he had been chasing her throughout of the day. However, even though Kirilenko was dead, someone still wants her taken out…"

"Someone… You mean the Russian government?" Rawlins asked. He wanted to keep Jack talking long enough so that his aide could trace his location. In addition, he also wanted to find out how much Jack knew about the overall situation.

"No, I already talked to Lugansky. Apparently the Russian government doesn't know Renee's alive so they weren't the ones who are after her. Truth to be told, I think someone other than the Russians wants the war between Russia and IRK to go on, and they are going after Renee because what she knows can potentially stop the war…" Jack explained hastily. "Look, General, I'll explain everything once I got her into your protective custody…"

_Bauer probably knew about Module 67…Lugansky must also have told him about that. Otherwise he wouldn't have reached the conclusion that Russians aren't the ones tried to eliminate Walker…_ Rawlins figured. However, despite Jack knew about Module 67, Rawlins thought Jack had no clue that he was involved. He also thought that was something he could take advantage of, considering Jack was delivering Renee Walker to him. Therefore, Rawlins began to think of a plan to exploit the situation regarding Jack Bauer, Renee Walker, and the Russian Foreign Minister. At the same time, he quickly covered the speaker of his phone's headset and turned to his aide. "Have we got a fix on Bauer's position yet?" He whispered.

"I have him." Lieutenant Shaw answered, seconds after he successfully traced Jack's location. He then displayed the information on the giant LCD screens in Rawlins' office for his boss to see. "Our drone is on its way to the area as well. We should have visual on all three subjects soon."

Rawlins gestured a 'thank you' nod to his aide and then resumed his conversation with Jack. "Jack, if I agree to help you, you're gonna have to let the Russian Foreign Minister go. What you did has already sparked an international incident and I don't want things to get any worse… I will have my men rendezvous with you at the top Global Center parking lot. For security purposes challenge words will be issued to my men. You'll ask them for 'Sparrow' and 'Everest' will be their reply."

"Thank you, General." Jack said, oblivious to General Rawlins' betrayal.

After handing up on Jack, Rawlins quickly took out a heavily encrypted cell phone and starting calling Kessler, telling him to deploy his teams. Just as he was about to hit the buttons, Rawlins noticed his aide's confused look.

"Is there something on your mind, Lieutenant?" He asked.

"Permission to speak freely, Sir."

"Granted."

"Forgive me for being blunt…But why go through all this cloak and dagger? We could just hit them at where they are right now and take out Bauer and Walker in one scoop…" Lieutenant Shaw asked. He didn't understand why his boss would go through such complex maneuvers to get Bauer and Walker.

"Bauer is a smart operative. He probably has planned out his escape route in his current location in case anything goes wrong. If we hit them at where they are now they will escape and disappear into the underground. Plus, Bauer is delivering Walker to us willingly. Once we have Walker we can neutralize her without Bauer knowing it was us, hence we still have an operational asset we can exploit." Rawlins answered, and then he called Kessler. Rawlins had considered the options they had. They could kill Renee Walker once she and Jack were separated. They could also just kill both Jack Bauer and Renee Walker on that multi-story parking lot if Jack refused to leave her side. Regardless, Rawlins was contempt that his plan actually provided the tactical flexibility he needed to adapt the ever changing situation.

After hanging up on General Rawlins, Jack walked back to Lugansky. He quickly turned the Russian Foreign Minister around and swiftly cut the then swiftly cut the zip-tie around his wrists with his Microtech HALO knife. The moment Lugansky when was free, Jack quickly turned him around again, grabbed Lugansky by his collar, and then got into his face.

"You know what I did to Novakovich and his men that morning, and I will do the same to you and your family if you mention anything about Renee Walker being alive to anyone in Moscow…" Jack said, and then he released Lugansky, telling him to get out of here. Unknown best to Lugansky, Jack had actually planted a small micro listening device, under Lugansky's collar as he grabbed it. It was the same type of bug he planted on Charles Logan 18 months ago. Even with his stern warning, Jack didn't really trust Lugansky to do as he said. By planted a bug on Lugansky, He figured he could get more intel on the situation when Lugansky calls Moscow. Plus, if Lugansky informs Suvarov about Renee, he would know as well.

At the same time, Lugansky thought Jack's threat was unnecessary. He already told Renee that he was not gonna tell his boss or anyone in Moscow about her, and he intended to make good on his word. He thought it was the least he could for thanking her for saving his life. After Jack released him and told him to get out of here, without any hesitation, Lugansky quickly ran away from both Jack and Renee.

"Jack, I need to talk you for a sec…" Renee said as she watched Lugansky fled from the scene. She really hated to break the news about the fact that the Russians didn't drop the charges against him, but Jack needed to know that.

"Renee, not now… I'll explain everything later but we need to go." Jack said in his no nonsense tone, and then he quickly got into the driver's seat of the SUV. He figured Renee probably wanted to talk to him about his phone call and he was gonna tell her everything during the car ride. Without any knowledge of General Rawlins' impending betrayal, Jack wanted to get Renee to General Rawlins' protective custody as soon as possible. He knew Renee probably won't agree to this, but whether she likes it or not, he was still determined to protect her at all cost. He wanted her to be safe. He needed her to be safe.

After watching Jack getting into the SUV, Renee also did the same despite she wanted to tell Jack about the matter of Russian government not honoring their deal. Judging by his no-none-sense tone, Renee figured something urgent must have come up. Understandingly, she decided to talk to Jack later during the car ride. After she got into the SUV, Renee suddenly got this strange feeling she couldn't put her fingers on it. It was like her intuition telling her that something was amiss and she couldn't explain it. However, she quickly brushed it off, considering she and Jack now got bigger issues to worry about. With unknown conspirators coming after her and the Russians still coming after Jack, she really wished there's a way for them both to get out of these nightmarish situations safely…

**12:56:44**

After running for a short while, Lugansky stopped and tried to catch his breath for a moment. Despite the fact that Jack had released him, he was still in a quite desolated area. He wanted to find a phone to call CTU but all he could see was just garbage litters, rusted shopping carts, and dumpsters with colorful graffiti. Lugansky was worried. He knew he was probably in a dangerous part of the town, like certain areas in Moscow where he wouldn't dare to venture into in the dead of the night. Therefore, he needed to get out of the area he was in quickly. All of sudden, he heard car noises. Before he could figure out what was going on, two black SUVs appeared and stopped right in front of him. Their blinding headlamp lights made Lugansky's eyes blink, but he was still able to make out the figures that emerged from those vehicles with their guns drawn.

"CTU! Put your hands where I can see them!" One of men shouted.

After hearing it was CTU, Lugansky compiled and raised both of his hands up. After taking a close look at those men, he saw they were wearing full-SWAT attires with full tactical gears, and letters on their Kevlar vests and their shoulder patches stated they were CTU. _It's the CTU TAC-team…Thank God…_Right now, he was extremely relieved.

"We got the Foreign Minister." One of CTU agent radioed after seeing it was the Russian Foreign Minister. Others then informed Lugansky that he could put his hands down.

"Thank God you're here..." Lugansky said to the CTU agents. Knowing they was probably looking for Jack Bauer and Renee Walker. Without missing a beat, he added. "Look, if you are looking for Jack Bauer and that woman, I think they went that way…" Lugansky said while pointing to the direction opposite to where Jack and Renee were actually travelling. He was buying both Jack and Renee some time because he thought it was the least he could do for them for saving his life. He thought if they were smart they would probably trying to head out of the country and lay low for the time being.

At the same time, Jack was listening to the conversation between Lugansky and the CTU agents who just showed up while driving, courtesy of the small bug he planted under Lugansky's collar. After hearing that Lugansky tried to lead CTU away from the direction he and Renee currently travelling, Jack thought about what Lugansky promised on not telling the people in Moscow about Renee being alive. _This guy just might keep his promises…_He thought.

As Lugansky continued talking, the CTU agent standing in front of him seemed to be pre-occupied with orders from his radio. "Roger." He reported, and then all of the sudden, he swiftly pulled out a USP Compact pistol from his leg holster and trained it directly at Lugansky's forehead. Before Lugansky could even figure out what the hell was going on. The CTU agent pulled the trigger.

After hearing the gunshot, both Jack and Renee was completely shocked. They instantly realized that those guys were not CTU agents. Before they could realizing what exactly the hell was going on, the bug under Lugansky's collar picked up additional chatters from those fake CTU agents.

"_Butcher Four Actual to Oxide. The secondary target has been neutralized._" The fake CTU agent radioed, and then after a short period of silence, he spoke radioed again. _"Roger that, Oxide. We'll shadow the primary target and rendezvous with Carnival Five on top of the Global Center parking lot once they acquired the primary target, Butcher Four out."_

What followed the fake CTU agents' radio chatters were car door slams and tire screeches. Jack instantly knew those fake CTU agents were currently trying to track him and Renee. At the same time, he also made an even more shocking revelation. Judging by the call signs those fake CTU agents used, Jack quickly realized that those CTU agents were actually the same mercenaries who attacked the FBI field office a few hours earlier. _Damn it… How they hell do they find us and Lugansky? And how the hell did they know about the rendezvous point at the top of Global Center_…_Only General Rawlins and I knows about the_ _rendezvous…Oh My God!_ Instantly, Jack was able to connect the dots. General Rawlins was trying to set him and Renee up, and those mercenaries were working with the General. Upon realizing that, Jack was perplexed by the realization. _If those mercenaries are working with General Rawlins, which means General Rawlins had a hand in the attack on the FBI field office and abduction of the Russian Foreign Minister… He is probably the one who tries to incite a war between Russia and IRK and that also means he is the one who probably send those snipers to take out Renee… How the hell did I not see that? How could I be so stupid?_ Upon his frightening realization, Jack was absolutely shocked, dumbfounded, and disturbed at the same time. He wanted to kick himself for willing to send Renee to that monster's protective custody. _How could I not have seen that?_He kept asking himself. It was a betrayal he should have seen coming this morning. _How the hell could I not have seen that?_As Jack continued blaming himself for almost putting Renee in danger, he was now more determined to make sure no harm would come to her…

**12:59:57...12:59:58...12:59:59...01:00:00**

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_**Hope you guys enjoy the story. Please let me know what you think :)**_

_**Some Random Thoughts and Ramblings**_

_**Jack and Renee:**__Truth to be told, I really had a lot of problem portraying their conflict in this chapter, especially on the part where Renee pulled out her sidearm and threatened Jack. I kept going back and forth on my decision on whether Renee would do that to Jack or not. Initially, I kinda don't think Renee would go that far, taking their relationship in season 8 into consideration. However, there was also the case of Jack's rampage at the end of season 8, which Renee probably doesn't want to see Jack ended in the same situation as he did in the end of season 8. So after a long period of writer's block, I decided to have Renee drew on Jack (for the second time lol) for the dramatic purpose. I really hope that wasn't out of character for Renee. I also had problem deciding whether or not to have Jack handcuff Renee to a steering wheel. I really don't know whether or not Jack would really do something like that to Renee (refraining myself from inserting any sexual innuendos…) but considering he did the same thing to Chloe in the end of season 8, I think it could happen. I really hope I didn't make our favorite crime-fighting couple too neurotic…_

_**The Extraction:**__I really had a lot of trouble coming up with the scenario mainly because I didn't want to recycle what went down with Logan's extraction in day 8, but in the end, I kinda did (d'oh). Pulling off such assault with__**one single man**__is extremely difficult, not to mention Jack didn't have that body armor like last time. Also, I don't think Jack would kill all of the security escorts at the time, and that made things even more difficult. As a result, I greatly exaggerated the effect of tear gas so Jack could effectively neutralize the security personnel without killing anyone. In addition, there was no way for Jack to get Lugansky out of a fully armored limo without some sort of thermal lance, so just like what he did with Logan, smoking Lugansky out was the only option. I really hate to recycle stuff from the last arc of season 8 but in this case, I really don't see a way out of it._

_**The Interrogation:**__This is also one of the hardest parts to write simply because this is the part where everything unfolds, and there was a lot of stuff to cover here. I lost track how many times I have to rewrite this part mainly I have to take considerations on what each character knew and didn't know at that moment. It was also difficult to write Lugansky's response simply because I don't think he was willing to reveal some of the stuff to Jack and Renee. I really hope I did a somewhat acceptable job on the interrogation stuff and the unfolding of information provided by Lugansky._

_**General Rawlins playing Jack:**__Seeing Jack being played was never fun (no pun intended), but to Rawlins defense, he also was able to relate to Jack through similar tragic experiences (loss of his family) and he did offer Jack his help instead just abandon Jack when the assassination went wrong. Therefore, Jack really had no reason to distrust Rawlins when he was enlisting his help. Also, I think it's logical to assume after what he did in season 8, Jack probably didn't have many friends that were willing to help him, and so he calling Rawlins would not be that much of a stretch in my opinion. Besides, you know what they say: Everyone ends getting hurt trying to play Jack (LOL)…_

_**Sarah Ferris' condition:**__I knew the hospital regulation stuff portrayed in this chapter probably wasn't remotely accurate, so as usually, I have to say some creative liberties were taken in this case. Plus, I forgot to cover this in the last chapter: There was no way Sarah could woke up and able to move around within a few hours right after surgery, and that was another creative liberty I've taken since the events have to occur within the 24 hours period. Plus, didn't Tony get out of his hospital bed after a major surgery for getting shot in his neck in season 3?_


	19. 1:00AM 2:00AM

**Author's Note:**

I know it's really been a very long time (about 5 months I think…) since I updated the story, and I'm terribly sorry for that. Mostly it was due to life obligations and as a result, I didn't get many opportunities to work on the story as I hoped. Plus, this chapter is the longest one up to date (around 19,000 words). I must say, the chapter seems to get a lot longer and more complex as story advances. I guess it's probably because like 24, there's a lot of stuff going on in every chapters/episodes.

Also, I'll also admit that I kinda slacked off at several points during the development of this chapter (Yeah…)

I want to thank all of you for your kind support and reviews. Again, I'm really sorry for taking such a long time on this chapter. All you guys are absolutely amazing and I really hope this chapter won't disappoint (fingers crossed).

And finally, big thanks to **Brendan** for checking the errors in the past chapter and continued support of the story. Thank you, Brendan!

'nuff said let's roll the tape!

Disclaimer: I don't own 24 and any of the characters. However I do own the OC's I created though: P

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**This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or deceased, is entirely coincidental.**

**Previously on 24**

After rescuing Renee Walker from the snipers dispatched by General Rawlins, Jack Bauer, thinking those snipers might be the work of either the Russian government or Kirilenko's associates, decided to go after the Russian Foreign Minister, Seymon Lugansky, so he could find out who was behind the attempt on Renee's life since both the Russian government or Kirilenko's associates have their possible motives to want Renee taken out. Renee, on the other hand, didn't want Jack to get into more trouble on the account of her, tried to stop Jack. However, Jack was able to outsmart Renee by handcuffing her to the steering wheel of an SUV and then proceed with his plan to abduct Lugansky from an armed escort. With Chloe's help, Jack managed to extract Lugansky. However, CTU caught on to Chloe's actions and sent out the first responders to stop Jack. Fortunately, Renee, who after managing to free herself, came to Jack's aide and both fled the scene with Lugansky in their custody. Afterward, both Jack and Renee interrogated Lugansky. During the interrogation, Lugansky revealed that neither the Russian government nor Kirilenko's associates were after Renee, and the reason the Russia went to war with IRK was because they believed the IRK was in possession of Module 67, a piece of military grade communication module that would allow IRK to compromise Russia's military network. Lugansky also revealed that his superior, Russian President Yuri Suvarov, had no intention of stop pursuing Jack. Knowing that either the Russian government or Kirilenko's associates was behind the recent attempt on Renee, Jack decided to get Renee to some place safe first. Therefore, he contacted Rawlins, hoping he could provide a safe haven for Renee in Fort Lesker. However, unknown best to Jack, Rawlins was actually the one who was trying to have Renee killed. After hearing Jack's request over the phone, Rawlins gave Jack a rendezvous point for a meet, hoping that Jack would unknowingly deliver Renee to his men. After letting Lugansky go, Jack and Renee headed off to the rendezvous. During the car ride, Jack heard that Lugansky was picked up by a CTU TAC team through a bug planted on Lugansky. However, the CTU TAC team turned out to be Kessler's men and they executed Lugansky right at the spot. Through those men' radio chatter, Jack recognized those men had the same call sign as the mercenaries who assaulted the FBI field office a few hours ago. He quickly made the shocking connection that Rawlins was actually behind the attempt on Renee, along with the assault on the FBI field office. To make the matter worse, they were actually heading to the rendezvous point set by Rawlins…

Meanwhile, after hearing the sniper attack on Renee over the phone, Special Agent Sarah Ferris argued with the doctor to have her checked out of the hospital against medical advice so she could go find Renee before anything bad happened to her…

**The following takes place between 1:00AM and 2:00AM**

**1:02:57**

After figuring out General Rawlins was the one behind those mercenaries, Jack was completely shocked and dumbfounded by the chilling realization. He thought if Rawlins was the one behind those mercenaries who attacked the FBI field office and extracted the Russian Foreign Minister in process, then he was probably the one who had the Russian Foreign Minister delivered to those IRK extremist in order to ignite a war between Russia and IRK, and right now, he wanted Renee dead because her knowledge of Kirilenko's false flag operation could stop the war potentially. _But why would he wanted a war between Russia and IRK? What could he possibly want to gain from that?_ Jack wondered. He also wondered whether or not Rawlins was working with Kirilenko since they both shared the same goal. However, upon thinking about that, Jack suddenly had another terrifying realization: Rawlins might have been playing him all along since this morning. If Kirilenko was out of picture, there was no one to prove that the attack in Moscow was the not the work of IRK operatives. _And now he is going after Renee because of what she knows…Damn it! How did I not see this coming? _As Jack started beating himself up for not foreseeing Rawlins' betrayal, he was certain of one thing: Regardless of what had happened, Renee was now in danger because Rawlins was after her and he needed to do everything in his power to make sure she was safe. He simply couldn't lose her again.

At the same time, Renee was also shocked by the new development. She still couldn't believe those weren't CTU agents and they killed the Russian Foreign Minister. _Who the hell are those guys? _Renee wondered. She quickly suspected that those fake CTU agents probably had something to do with the attacks that happened in the past few hours. Unfortunately, at the moment, she thought both her and Jack had no idea who was the mastermind behind those attacks. To make matters worse, she also realized that with the death of the Russian Foreign Minister, both her and Jack were in very serious trouble since they were the ones who grabbed him from his protection escorts about an hour ago. Because of that, it wasn't hard for law enforcements, especially CTU, to consider both of them as the prime suspects in Lugansky's murder. Upon thinking about that, Renee's face darkened severely. She thought not only she had failed to stop Jack from getting himself into more trouble, she and Jack had managed to dig themselves into a deeper hole than the one they were in an hour ago. Right now, she didn't know how she could get Jack out of it. _None of it would have happened if I talked him out of grabbing Lugansky… _ She thought. She also remembered what Lugansky had told her. The Russians were still intended to go after Jack even after he saved their Foreign Minister from those IRK extremists. It seemed no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't be able to get Jack out of the oceans of troubles he found himself into 18 months ago. No matter how hard she tried, she always ended back to square one. _Damn it…_ However, despite the numerous setbacks, Renee knew she had to keep trying. She thought since she had dragged Jack into this entire mess 18 months ago after he finally found some peace with his family, she needed to get Jack to that place again. All of the sudden, something from the SUV's rearview mirror caught the corner of her eyes. She spotted two black SUVs tailing them through the rearview mirror. She figured those were probably mercenaries' SUV considering what she and Jack heard through the bug Jack planted on Lugansky. During her career as an FBI agent, Renee had run nearly countless surveillance ops and she knew the maneuvers and counter-maneuvers for following the target without being detected. Therefore, she was able to spot those mercenaries despite they were extremely careful. Judging by the way they drove, Renee quickly deduced that those guys knew what they were doing. _Not good…_she worried.

"Jack," Renee said worriedly as she continued to observe those tails from the rear view mirror. "We got company…"

After hearing what Renee said, Jack quickly snapped out of his personal guilt trip and took a quick look at his rearview mirror. Instantly, He spotted the black SUVs following them. From the conversation he overheard minutes ago, Jack knew those guys were the mercenaries who attacked the FBI field office and killed Lugansky. Judging by how far those mercenaries stayed behind them, he figured they must have some form of air support helping them tracking him and Renee, and Rawlins was probably the one who provided them the eyes in the sky. Therefore, even if they managed to lose those tails, those mercenaries could still track them through the air surveillance. _Son of a bitch…_ Jack knew before he can get Renee to some where safe, he had to lose both the air surveillance and the tails behind him, without any warning, he swerved the SUV to another direction.

At the same time, through the drone's video feed displayed on the giant LCD TV screen inside his office, Rawlins observed that Jack's car swerved into another direction. As he continued watching the TV screen, He started to suspect that Jack Bauer was not heading to the rendezvous point at the Global Center parking lot, where Kessler's men were waiting for him and Renee Walker. That actually worried Rawlins. _Maybe he spotted Kessler's men who are currently following him…_He thought as he began to ponder the implication of such possibility. However, he also thought of the possibility that Bauer probably had no idea he was going to eliminate Walker behind his back, but his instinct kept nagging him about not to underestimate an experienced operative like Bauer. Wanting to determine whether or not his trap has been compromised, Rawlins picked up the receiver of his phone and dialled Jack's number.

"Jack, my men have already arrived at Global Center parking lot. What's your ETA?" Rawlins started with a simple, innocent question, probing to see whether Jack had seen through his machination or not.

After hearing Rawlins' voice, the already-boiling rage inside him intensified. He hated the fact that Rawlins played him. He also hated the fact he almost made the grave mistake of delivering Renee to the people who wanted her dead. Without any hesitation, Jack confronted Rawlins.

"Those men at Global Center parking lot…they are not gonna take Renee to protective custody, are they?" He asked rhetorically.

_Damn it he knows…_ Rawlins wondered how the hell Jack figured out his plan for both him and Renee Walker and at the same time, he also realized that Jack Bauer was now more of a liability than a useful asset. Jack already knew about Module 67 from Lugansky and now he knew about what he was planning on eliminating Renee Walker. Although Rawlins wanted to find out how much did Jack knew about his operation and how much had been compromised, he also knew that regardless of how much he knew at this point, Jack Bauer needed to be eliminated along side with Renee Walker. Therefore, dropping all the pretence of helping Jack and Renee, Rawlins stated coldly.

"Jack, I'm sorry it has come to this, but this is the business we're in. You, out of all people, should've known the score…" After he said that, not giving Jack any chance to reply, Rawlins quickly hanged up.

_That son of a bitch_... Before Jack could lash out at Rawlins, the line simply went dead. At this moment, Jack started to worry about whether or not he can really protect Renee from the men like Rawlins, who got some very serious resources at his disposal. However, despite facing an uphill battle, Jack was still determined that he would do everything in his power to ensure Renee's safety. He already failed her once 18 months ago. He couldn't fail her again this time.

At the same time, Renee was a bit puzzled by Jack's actions in general. Not only Jack hadn't told her where they were going, he was now on the phone with some mysterious caller. At first, she thought the call was from Chloe, but she quickly realized that it was someone else. Someone she didn't know but that someone obviously knew Jack. From the hint of guilt hidden deeply inside Jack's concerned expression and what he had said over the phone, Renee quickly deducted that Jack was planning on taking her to some place safe and whoever Jack made the arrangement with double-crossed him. _Damn it, Jack…_ She knew Jack meant well, but she didn't want him to get into even more troubles because of her, not when he was already in deep water. At the same time, strangely, her instinct began telling her that there was definitely something more going on with Jack and the mysterious caller, and that worried her even more.

"Jack, who are you talking to?" Renee asked.

"Someone I shouldn't have trusted in the first place..." Jack simply stated. He recalled the moment when he first met Rawlins his initial instinct kept telling him not to trust that man. As it turned out, his initial instinct was correct. Jack didn't want to tell Renee the fact that he trusted the wrong person and almost sent her to her demise, but he also thought that she deserved to know the truth, but not right now. He still needed to lose those mercenaries, along with their air surveillance first. Therefore, after he put the pedal to the metal, Jack quickly added. "Renee, look, I'll explain everything, but right now. We need to get clear from these guys first…"

_Someone he shouldn't have trusted in the first place?_ That statement had Renee even more puzzled. At the same time, the memories of Tony Almeida's betrayed also emerged, as well as the painful memories of Larry's death. Renee then quickly reminded herself not to go there. She immediate refocused her attention from her horrible memories and burning questions to the pressing matters at hand. Just as Jack said, they needed to get clear from the people who had been following them after they left the underpass.

Meanwhile, after hanging up on Jack, Rawlins then turned to his aide, Lieutenant Shaw, and asked.

"Does the drone carry any payload?" Rawlins was talking about the MQ-9 Reaper UAV that was deployed for the surveillance operation.

"Yes, with 14 Hellfire missiles…" Lieutenant Shaw answered. He instantly knowing what his boss want him to do. However, he had some doubts about his boss' order. "But sir, it's too high profile…Plus there might be collateral damages …"

"I don't care! Just tell them to go weapons hot on Bauer's vehicle now. We can make it look like a car bomb from those IRK nut jobs afterward…" Rawlins ordered hastily. He knew Jack Bauer was an exceptional operative and a dangerous enemy so if a chance to take that said enemy out is presented to him, he'll take it without any hesitation. _Screw the subtle tactics…_

"Yes sir." Lieutenant Shaw replied, and then he relayed the general's orders to the drone pilot via his headset. "Reaper 2-1, this is Oversight, you're authorized to engage the moving vehicle. I repeat, you're authorized to engage the moving vehicle…"

"Roger, Oversight. Switching to 114's..." The drone operator replied as he began to calibrating the MTS (Multi-spectral Targeting System) onboard of the Reaper drone. Despite it was the night was dark, the drone operator could see the target clearly through the drone's black and white infrared video feed. The optical infrared system and laser designator of the MTS actually allows the drone to acquire its target, calculate the firing solution, and then guide its AGM-114 Hellfire missile to home-in on the target using the infrared laser beam. Since the target vehicle was moving so the drone's targeting laser was also tracking the moving target as well. After the targeting system locked on to the travelling vehicle, the drone operator then reported.

"Target Locked. Weapon's hot…"

Initially, the drone operator had some doubts about engaging the target vehicle in a highly populated urban environment, but orders from the top were orders. Unknown best to him, the drone operator thought this surveillance run was just another part of the NSA's covert op and the people inside the target vehicle were considered potential national security threats. Just as he was about to fire the drone's weapon, from live video feed, he noticed the target vehicle was beginning to pull into the LAX in high speed. Upon seeing that, the drone operator immediately aborted the firing sequence and began to turn the drone around.

"Abort! Abort! Oversight, negative on the ground strike. The airspace around LAX is restricted. We're unable to pursuit the target until further authorization is given..." The drone operator reported. In order for the drone to enter the controlled airspace around LAX, the operator needed to notify FAA and request the permission to do so.

"Damn it…" Lieutenant Shaw muttered, and then he turned to his commanding officer and quickly delivered the bad news. "Sir, the drone can't maintain visual on Bauer's vehicle. It cannot enter the controlled airspace around LAX…"

"Tell Kessler to send his men in and take them out now! And get me LAX's CCTV camera feed!" Rawlins shouted angrily upon hearing the bad news. He didn't think Jack Bauer was that good. _Entering an area with controlled airspace to dodge the air surveillance…smart…_ Despite being impressed by Jack's quick thinking, Rawlins was still quite angry that Jack managed to out-maneuver him. As his aide relayed his order to Kessler's men, he silently warned himself not to make the same mistake twice and underestimated Bauer again.

Upon receiving their orders, the mercenaries quickly activated the sirens on their SUVs and sped past the traffics. Still disguised as CTU TAC team operatives, the mercenaries knew they could try to take down both Bauer and Walker in LAX without raising any suspicion from both airport securities and bystanders. It'll just look like a CTU TAC team taking down two armed suspects in LAX. The disguise gave them the perfect urban camouflage in Los Angeles concrete jungle. Plus, like the real CTU TAC team operatives, they were also wearing balaclava with their tactical SWAT helmet, further concealing their identities. Despite in disguises, those mercenaries still knew they had to take out both Bauer and Walker as fast as possible before the real police shows up at the scene. As their SUVs approached the LAX's pick up/drop off area in front of the arrival terminal, they quickly spotted Bauer's SUV, which was parked beside the curb among the sea of cars and taxis coming and leaving the LAX. The mercenaries SUVs then came to a screeching stop near Jack's SUV and they emerged from their respective vehicles with their customized M4A1 assault rifles and MP5A4 submachine guns ready. In tight formation, the mercenaries quickly and carefully advanced toward Jack's SUV. Just like other CTU issued vehicles, the windows on Jack's SUV were tinted in completely black so it was almost impossible to identify the occupants. As they surrounded the SUV, the mercenary team leader switched to his sidearm and tried to open the driver's side door while keeping his sidearm trained at the front. At the same time, one of the mercenaries behind the team leader also began to cover him as well. Without any hesitation, the mercenary team leader opened to driver's side door of the SUV while another covered him. To their surprise, they found there was no one inside the SUV.

"Subjects are still in vicinity. Fan out and search the area!" The mercenary team leader ordered. He knew that within such short time frame, those two subjects couldn't get very far. However, there were still a sizable crowd of people in the pickup/drop off area, so he thought the subjects could easily blend into the crowd, hence making them harder to locate. As the mercenaries fanned out, the mercenary team leader quickly report his status to Kessler. He knew his boss could access LAX's CCTV network to help them track down those two subjects.

Meanwhile, after abandoning the SUV, both Jack and Renee continued moving along the crowd in the pickup/drop-off area outside of LAX's terminal. They both knew that once those mercenaries checked the SUV, they would shift their attention to the crowd. To make the matter worse, the Kevlar vests they were both wearing made them standout among the pedestrians. Therefore, Jack quickly shifted his attention to the line of taxi parked alongside of the curb. Knowing that taking a cab would give them the urban camouflage they needed to evade Rawlins' air and ground surveillance, since there were literally hundreds of cabs moving in and out of LAX's terminal. He quickly took Renee's hand and led her to a cab. After getting into the cab, Jack immediately instructed the cabbie to drive them away from the airport as fast as he can after giving him 100 bucks. Without asking any question, the cabbie simply started pulling into the traffic. Jack did a quick check to make sure they were clear, and then he turned to check on Renee. Even though she was calm and collected on the surface, Jack could tell she was distressed.

"Hey…you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah…" She answered. "Jack…Who the hell are those people?"

Jack knew he owned her an explanation about Rawlins, but he didn't know how to break it to Renee. He felt ashamed that he almost delivered her to the people who tried to kill her. He should have known better. He should have not trusted Rawlins in the first place. Not only that, he also had to explain to Renee what happened this morning, when he decided to avenge her supposed death by trying to assassinate Kirilenko. _What would she think after I tell her what almost happened this morning... _He asked himself. However, regardless, Jack thought Renee still deserve to know the truth.

"Jack?" Renee asked again worriedly, after noticing his expression darkened.

Jack wanted to disclose what exactly happened this morning to Renee, but at the moment, they were in a cab with a cabbie present. Not wanting to discuss the private matters in front of a third party, Jack simply held off on telling Renee about Rawlins for the moment. Renee, on the other hand, noticed Jack's hesitation to speak. She immediately knew it was because they weren't alone at the moment and gave Jack an understanding nod. Although she did not know what the hell was going on, one thing was certain. Regardless of what was happening Renee was determined to help Jack get through it.

At the same time, after hearing further updates from Kessler and his men, Lieutenant Shaw relayed the information to Rawlins.

"Sir, Kessler's men didn't find Bauer and Walker. My guess is that they probably left the airport already. I'll go check the sat visual to see where they went…"

"No need, Lieutenant, by the time we find whatever vehicle they left the airport with they probably already ditched it somewhere and switched to another one..." Rawlins deduced, and then he let out a disappointing sigh. It was the classic car-switching trick and he couldn't believe Bauer managed to out-smart him with that. Regardless, Rawlins knew he needed to start strategizing his next step. After a brief period of deep thoughts, he quickly thought of a plan to deal with the Bauer situation.

"Once Bauer goes under the grid, trying to locate him is just a waste of time, and we don't have the manpower and resource to conduct static surveillances across L.A." Rawlins stated. Like zone defence in basketball, static surveillance was about having surveillance assets covering specific zones and waiting for the subject to appear. It provided great coverage and it was hard to spot since surveillance assets can remind stationary and blend into the background, but it requires a lot of manpower and resources. Plus, he knew experienced operative like Bauer probably would spot any static surveillance easily and travel in areas with little traffic cam coverage. Despite facing a formidable opponent, Rawlins still had a few tricks in his sleeves. "We go after Bauer's logistics…Both him and Walker will need helps staying under the radar, especially when every law enforcement agency was hunting them. We deny them those helps, back them into a corner, and then it's just a matter of time they'll make mistakes and pop right back into our radar... Judging what transpired this morning, Bauer will probably seek O'Brian for help first. Let's start with her."

"Roger, I'll get right on it." Lieutenant Shaw replied, and then he started contacting Kessler as well as sending what he had on Chloe O'Brian to Kessler's technicians. He knew Kessler would not be happy about the additional workload considering his men was already busy working on cracking the Module 67's encryption, but nevertheless, Kessler will help them handle this O'Brian woman, considering how well they were paying Kessler and his men...

**1:09:02**

While sitting inside one of CTU's holding room, Chloe was quite worried about both Jack and Renee. After being detained by CTU security, she had absolutely no idea what was happening. The only thing she knew was that Jack was going to kidnap and interrogate the Russian Foreign Minister to see if he has any information about the attempt on Renee's life. Despite Chloe knew what Jack was doing would land him in the hot water once again, she still trusted his judgment and hoped that he finds out who, aside from Kirilenko, was trying to kill Renee. Chloe knew Jack was working under the assumption that both Suvarov and Kirilenko's associates were actively pursuing Renee at the moment, but she didn't know whether or not they were working together. She also thought of the possibility that there might be a third party involved. Just as she continued trying to figure all these out, all of the sudden, the door opened and the CTU director, Nathan Devlin, walked into the room with a tablet computer on his hand. His facial expression clearly indicated that he was not happy. In fact, he looked quite angry.

Devlin, without missing a beat, sat down across Chloe. Right now his top priority was to bring Jack Bauer to justice for the murder of the Russian Foreign Minister. He figured Jack Bauer did it because he was simply continuing his own personal revenge fantasies against the Russian government. _Goddamnit… why would White House wanted him to be in the CTU's assault in the first place?_ He thought, but regardless, crap already hit the fan and he had to clean up the mess. Devlin was also aware that Renee Walker was probably with him, since according to other CTU agents, Jack Bauer drove off with Renee Walker after the sniper attack. Therefore, Devlin knew he also needed to consider Renee Walker as Jack Bauer's accomplice. Both Jack Bauer and Renee Walker were experienced former Federal agents, so apprehending them will be extremely difficult. Therefore, he hoped that Chloe O'Brian, a former CTU analyst who had worked with both Jack Bauer and Renee Walker in the past, could provide CTU with some helpful information on locating both Bauer and Walker.

"Ms. O'Brian... About an hour ago, you participated in the abduction of the Russian Foreign Minister by giving Jack Bauer the information necessary to execute a snatch-and-grab..." Devlin stated, and then he put his tablet computer in front of Chloe and began showing the crime scene photos of Lugansky's murder. "LAPD sent these minutes ago. Apparent, Jack Bauer murdered Minister Lugansky..."

"What?" She quietly muttered as she was completely dumbfounded by the shocking news. Originally, Chloe was gonna try to stonewall the CTU, but the news of the Russian Foreign Minister's death caught her completely off guard. _Jack couldn't have done that…_ That was Chloe's initial thought. She thought Jack had made it clear to her that he was just gonna interrogate him to find out who exactly was trying to kill Renee. However, at the same time, those photos also reminded her of what Jack did on that fateful day. The gruesome images of what Jack did to Pavel Tokerav, Mikhail Novakovich, and the rest of Novakovich's bodyguards suddenly came to her mind. _What if Lugansky indeed had something to do with those snipers who tried to kill Renee and Jack killed him because of that?_ Chloe pondered about the horrible possibility.

Devlin, on the other hand, noticed a glimmer of doubt on Chloe's face. He figured the woman in front of him was beginning to crack. Therefore, he needed to press her even harder. "You provided Jack Bauer the information he needed to facilitate the kidnapping. Now the Minister Lugansky is dead, so that makes you the accessory to his murder, so I suggest you play ball here and tell us where Jack Bauer is, or prison will be the least of your worries…"

After hearing what Devlin said, Chloe remained in silence. Although she was a little unsure at the moment, she knew regardless of what Jack did, if CTU catches him then he was gonna be in a sea of troubles. Plus, her instinct told her that Jack didn't kill the Russian Foreign Minister. _Even if Jack attempted to kill Lugansky because he had something to do with those snipers, Renee probably would've stopped him from doing so, assuming Jack didn't stash Renee somewhere safe before he extracted Lugansky…_ Therefore, trusting her instinct and not wanting to get Jack and Renee in more trouble, Chloe said firmly.

"Jack couldn't have done that…"

Truth to be told, Devlin wasn't surprised to hear that from Chloe. He had read her files and he knew 18 months ago, FBI arrested her and charged her for obstruction of justice because she stubbornly refused to give them Jack Bauer's whereabouts. Therefore, Devlin knew Chloe probably would refuse to cooperate with the authority at first. At the same time, he also wondered why the hell Chloe O'Brian could still remain loyal to a criminal like Jack Bauer even after the atrocities that guy had done. Regardless, Chloe O'Brian remained as CTU's only lead to find Jack Bauer and Renee Walker, so Devlin pressed on with his questioning.

"What makes you so sure?" Devlin asked Chloe rhetorically. "18 months ago, Bauer murdered the last Russian Foreign Minister and his FSO security details. He also tried to kill the Russian President on the same day. Considering what just happened to Minister Lugansky, clearly, Jack Bauer is still continuing his personal vendetta against the Russian government."

"If Jack really want to kill Minister Lugansky he would have just let him die at the hands of those IRK terrorists instead risking his life to save him!" Chloe retorted angrily. After she brought up that point, Chloe was now even more convinced that Jack didn't killed Lugansky. _But who did?_ She wondered. _Maybe it's the same people who tried to kill Renee back at the abandoned hotel? But who are those people…? _

"Maybe he wants to do the killing himself. Maybe he still wants to act out some of his messed-up revenge fantasies…" Devlin stated as he remained unconvinced by Chloe's argument.

Chloe couldn't believe how thick-headed Devlin was. It was like he refused to consider the possibility of Jack being innocence due to some pretty strong pre-existing bias against Jack. Although it wasn't the first time Chloe had to deal with the kind of bureaucrats like Devlin, it still annoyed her to the extreme. She wanted nothing more than to grab the CTU director and shook some sense into him at the moment.

"Look, O'Brian, right now, I suggest you cooperate with CTU so you might have a chance to be free of the world of crap you currently inhabited due to the courtesy of Jack Bauer. You already spent some time in prison because of this guy. I doubt you want to visit the joint again. Plus, you have a son. Do you really want your son to visit his mother behind a reinforced glass window?" Devlin said, hoping the family card would get Chloe to talk. However, a few seconds after he finished his sentence, her one of his analysts' voice on the intercom.

"_Sir, there are two agents from NSA who want to see you. They say they're here for Chloe O'Brian…_" The analyst said.

_What the hell?_ Although Devlin was a bit annoyed that the announcement interrupted his interrogation, he also thought it might good to let Chloe O'Brian sit alone and cool down for a while so she could think about her bleak future if she doesn't cooperate with CTU while he deals with those NSA agents.

"We're not finished here. I'll be right back." Devlin said to Chloe. He collected his tablet computer and walked out of the interrogation room.

After Devlin left the room, Chloe closed her eyes and let out a long, depressed sigh. Truth to be told, she didn't want to go to jail for a second time. Not only the first time was hard for her, it was hard for Morris and her son, Prescott. Thinking about the possibility that she probably won't see her son growing up, her expression darkened severely. However, Chloe knew that Jack didn't kill the Russian Foreign Minister. She didn't want to help CTU condemn her best friend for something he didn't do. Caught between a rock and hard place, right now, Chloe just hoped that both Jack and Renee can uncover the truth about who was behind those events in the past few hours and clear their names in process...

At the same time, just as he walked out of the interrogation room, to his surprise, he saw two men in impeccable black suits already waiting for him outside of the interrogation room. _What the hell do these guys want...? _He wondered as those two men approached him.

"Director Devlin, I'm Special Agent Chambers, this is Special Agent Pike. We're with NSA..." One of the NSA agents said as they both showed Devlin their credentials. "We're here to take Chloe O'Brian into our custody.

_What the hell? This must be a joke..._ Devlin thought. He wondered why NSA would want Chloe O'Brian in their custody. _Maybe be that the top brass isn't confident that CTU can handle the Bauer situation so they want NSA to handle it instead?_ Considering Jack Bauer did kidnap and murder the Russian Foreign Minister under his watch, Devlin wasn't really surprised by such possibility. _Goddamnit…_ Therefore, with the possibility of him being forced to step down due to the fallout from Jack Bauer's actions, Devlin knew he needed to apprehend him ASAP, and right now, Chloe O'Brian was the only person that could lead CTU to him. Therefore, he was not about to let NSA takes CTU's only lead away.

"Gentlemen, with all due respect, CTU is currently trying to locate and apprehend the people who abducted and killed Russian Foreign Minister. Right now, Chloe O'Brian is our only lead, so If you want to talk to her you gonna have to wait your turn..." Devlin said firmly.

"This paperwork says otherwise." Agent Pike said after he took out a batch of paperwork from his briefcase and handed them to Devlin. "We already cleared the transfer with the Division. I apologize for the last minute request, Director, but this is an urgent matter of national security..."

"So is capturing Jack Bauer." Devlin stated frankly as he scanned through the paperwork the NSA agent handed to him. Although the paperwork was in order, he still had trouble believing that Division would approve such transfer. Therefore, he quickly made a mental note to himself, reminding him to check with Division after he finishes up here.

Sensing the CTU director's doubt, Agent Chambers walked up to Devlin and said.

"Director Devlin, may I speak with you off the record?"

"Sure."

After turning his head and making sure there was no one around but the three of them, Agent Chambers explained in a much more hushed tone.

"Look, I'm gonna go out on a limb here since I'm not supposed to tell you about this… The reason NSA is interested in Ms. O'Brian is because we suspect she might be behind the theft of some sensitive data… Couple days ago, someone breached the firewall of one of our offsite data storage facility and downloaded some of classified documents stored in the facility's servers. Those documents contain eyes-only information... Information that current IRK government and their surrounding neighbors are willing to pay top dollars to get their hands on. We traced the source of the breach back to Ms. O'Brian and we also suspect her of trying to sell such information to those players…"

_Damn it__…_ Devlin started to worry after he heard what Agent Chambers told him. Since he actually gave that woman the permission to access some of the aspects of the CTU servers, he worried that Chloe O'Brian might have accessed more than Russian Foreign Minister's security. Fortunately, his analyst, Oscar Montez, didn't find any more suspicious activities. However, he still needed to have his analysts to double-check the system to make sure nothing is compromised.

"Due to the classified nature of those documents, we have to interrogate Ms. O'Brian in a secured NSA facility…" Agent Chambers continued.

After hearing what Agent Chambers said, Devlin did some thinking. He figured the NSA was probably covering their own asses because they lost the classified documents they were supposed to protect. Therefore, they were scrambling to contain the situation the best they could. Devlin thought it presented an opportunity for him and CTU. The idea of having NSA own him one was very tempting. He thought about Chloe O'Brian and figured the woman probably won't give him anything that can help CTU track down Bauer anyway. _Hell, she went to jail because she refused to give FBI any information on Bauer's whereabouts. _As a result, Devlin began to consider Chloe O'Brian might possibly be a dead end. Her refusal to cooperate won't get them anywhere near Bauer. Plus, the situation those NSA agents described were much more serious, since it concerned the possibility of classified information being leaked to foreign governments. Therefore, after some considerations, he made the decision.

"Alright, gentlemen, you can have her, but consider this a favor from CTU…" Devlin said.

At the same time, Chloe was going over the events that happened in the past few hours in her head. She was hoping to find something that could help clearing Jack's name and figure out who was behind those events in the past few hours. However, aside from the information Jack told her in their last conversations, she couldn't make any headways. To make the matter worse, Chloe thought even if she figure out who framed Jack, the thick-headed CTU director probably won't listen to her. That annoyed her greatly. Just as she continued with her thoughts, suddenly, the door opened and Devlin walked into the room. As soon as she saw Devlin, Chloe quickly said.

"You're making a mistake. Jack didn't kill the Russian Foreign Minister!" She knew Devlin probably won't listen, but that still deter her from trying to convince the CTU director. However, right after she said that, she noticed two men in impeccable black suits who followed Devlin into the room as well. _What's going on?_ She wondered.

"You're here by transferred to NSA's custody. These men need to ask you some questions regarding a recent security breach…" Devlin said nonchalantly to Chloe.

"What? What security breach?" Chloe said in absolute surprise. She had absolutely no idea what Devlin was talking about. Dumbfounded by what Devlin said, Chloe quickly protested. "I don't know anything about that…"

"Ms. O'Brian, you need to come with us…" Agent Chambers said to Chloe as his partner, Agent Pike, forced her up from her seat, and slapped handcuff on Chloe's wrist. Without missing a beat, Agent Pike then began escorting Chloe out of the interrogation room.

As she was being escorted out of the interrogation room by the one of the NSA agents, Chloe simply shot Devlin an angery look. She had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on. Why would NSA want to talk to her about some security breach, let alone taking her into their custody? She thought something was definitely not right, but there was nothing she could do at the moment. Despite feeling a bit helpless, Chloe still hoped that Jack and Renee can uncover the truth and clear their names in process.

"Thank you, Director." Agent Chambers said as his partner and Chloe walked out of the interrogation room. "We'll also ask her about Jack Bauer's whereabouts. If she coughs up anything on that we'll forward that information to you ASAP."

"Appreciate it." Devlin said. He was glad this inter-agency disagreement didn't evolve into a full-blown jurisdiction pissing match. In addition, he was also glad that those NSA agents showed CTU some professional courtesy as well. However, with Chloe in NSA custody, CTU needed to find another lead that could help them track down Jack Bauer. As a result, Devlin thought they needed to take a close look at Bauer's other associates known to them. _Maybe that former FBI agent's file that can tell us something, since she has worked with Bauer in the past…_ Devlin figured. With White House wanting Jack Bauer captured ASAP, he thought this was gonna be a very long night…

**1:18:31**

With Agent Caffrey's help, Sarah managed to check herself out of the hospital and now she was on her way to CTU. Truth to be told, she still felt like crap. She was extremely tired and the gunshot wound on the lower left of her abdomen was still acting up. It also didn't help that she seemed to have a minor headache as well. However, with Renee's life was still in danger and the recent development regarding the death of the Russian Foreign Minister, Sarah knew she needed to pull herself together and try to find both Jack and Renee first. Along the way, Agent Caffrey also had kept Sarah updated on the new recent developments. At first, she was completely stunned and dumbfounded by what the CTU agent told her. Sarah really had a tough time believing that Jack and Renee had not only kidnapped the Russian Foreign Minister, they also murdered him as well. However, she also remembered that Jack Bauer did kill the last Russian Foreign Minister and his protection details in New York 18 months ago. Despite she didn't know Jack that well, she knew Renee. She knew Renee definitely wouldn't let Jack go that far considering she had gone to a lot of trouble, including putting her life on the line, just to clear Jack's name in IRK Foreign Minister's assassination this morning. Plus, why would both of them decided to murder the Russian Foreign Minister when had tried to save him from those IRK extremists moments ago? _That just doesn't make any sense… _As her mind desperately scrabbled for a reasonable explanation, she began to feel both her head and her gunshot wound were aching again. For a moment, she really wished she hadn't turned down the pain medications back at the hospital.

After Agent Caffrey pulled into CTU's underground parking garage and parked the car, Sarah hastily exited the vehicle. She wanted to speak to Chloe O'Brian. According to Agent Caffrey, CTU had one of Jack and Renee's associates, a former CTU analyst named Chloe O'Brian, in their custody. Sarah remembered that name. She remembered Chloe was the woman who called the FBI, requesting to see both Jack and Renee when FBI had them both in custody couple hours ago. Therefore, since this woman was obviously a friend to both Jack and Renee, Sarah thought she might be able to help her find Jack and Renee before whoever wants them dead catches up to them. _Maybe she might have some answers on what exactly happened... Maybe she knows who exactly wants to kill Renee…_ She thought as she followed Agent Caffrey's lead.

After she entered the high-tech CTU bullpen with Agent Caffrey, the first thing Sarah noticed was two men impeccable suits escorting a handcuffed woman out of CTU. Although this was a fairly routine sight for law enforcement agencies, she couldn't help but to feel something was off. However, she quickly brushed it off and tried to focus on Jack and Renee's situation at the hand. As she walked further into the bullpen, Sarah couldn't help but to feel under dressed. First of all, her hair was also a mess and she really wished she had a ponytail holder. Second, she was wearing faded jeans, a simple T-shirt, and a grey hooded jacket. She thought Agent Caffrey probably obtained those from some intern back at the hospital. They were a far cry from the pant suit she wore to work this morning and one might have mistaken her for a college student, but her appearance wasn't really her primary concern at the moment. She needed to find both Jack and Renee.

At the same time, Devlin noticed one of his agents and Sarah as soon as they entered CTU's bullpen. He recognized the young FBI agent since she was one of few survivors in the attack on the FBI field office that happened hours ago. _Isn't she supposed to be in the hospital?_ He wondered as he saw both Agent Caffrey and Sarah approached him.

"Sir, this is Special Agent Sarah Ferris from the FBI. She's one of the survivors of the attack on their field office..." Agent Caffrey introduced young FBI agent to the CTU director.

"Hello, Agent Ferris." Devlin said as he shook hands with young FBI agent. "Shouldn't you be at the hospital?"

"I checked myself out…" Sarah answered, and then she quickly cut to the chase. "Actually, Director Devlin, I'm here to see Chloe O'Brian. I know CTU has her in the custody and with your permission, I'd like to speak to her…"

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Agent Ferris…" Devlin said. Before Sarah could response to that, he quickly added. "Ms. O'Brian is no longer in CTU's custody. NSA took her into their custody a few minutes ago. You just missed them…"

"Wait… Why would NSA want O'Brian in their custody? Isn't she a suspect in our current investigation?" Agent Caffrey asked curiously.

As Devlin began telling Agent Caffrey that the order came from the Division, Sarah instantly recalled seeing two men escorting a handcuffed woman out of CTU. _Son of a..._ Realizing those men were probably the NSA agents Director Devlin was talking about and the woman might be Chloe O'Brian, she quickly turned around and made a dash for the CTU's parking garage. She thought she still have a chance to catch up with them before they left CTU and she hoped she was not too late. Despite the fact that the throbbing pain from her wound still hurt like hell, Sarah tried her best to ignore the pain as she ran as fast as she could manage through the stairwell. Following the same way she came, Sarah quickly reached CTU's parking and saw those two NSA agents, whom, at the moment, were in the process of shoving Chloe into the backseat of their sedan.

"Hold up!" Sarah shouted as she hastily ran toward them.

Sarah's voice quickly drew those two NSA agents' attention. _What the hell..._ Agent Chambers thought after he saw a young blonde woman running toward them. Within seconds, the young woman reached them and began panting. While she was breathing laboriously from the running, she quickly reached into one of her pockets and pulled out an FBI credential.

"I'm Special Agent Sarah Ferris... I'm…I'm with the FBI..." Sarah said while still panting. Her voice was also a bit shaky as well due to the throbbing pain in her left abdomen. She knew she shouldn't have put that kind of strain on her body, considering the fact she just got out of her surgery. However, with Renee's life in danger, she immediately pulled herself together and continued. "I... I need to talk to Chloe O'Brian… it's urgent…"

"Agent Ferris, I'm sorry, but we're currently transferring Ms. O'Brian back to NSA. If you want to talk to her, you have to go through the proper channels..." Agent Chambers said as he watched the young FBI agent trying to catch her breath from all the running she did. From the look of it, the young woman didn't look so good. In fact, she looked like she was about to pass out. "You're alright, Ma'am?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Sarah said as she put her hands over her wound and tried to ignore the throbbing pain. Although the pain had become manageable more or less, it still annoyed her greatly. "Look, my witness' life is in danger and Chloe O'Brian is the only one who might have an idea where my witness is…"

While sitting in the backseat of the sedan, Chloe overheard parts of the conversation between Sarah and those two NSA agents. She remembered the young FBI agent's name. _Isn't she the FBI agent who was on the line with Renee at the time she was meeting with Kirilenko?_ Chloe remembered that because she traced Renee's call to her during that meeting. She figured it was obvious that the young FBI agent knew Renee and Renee seemed to trust her, so she can probably trust her too.

"I'm sorry, Agent Ferris. You can't talk to her. Once we're done questioning her we'll notify the FBI and CTU." Agent Pike said in a polite but very firm matter.

"Fine…" Determined to talk to Chloe, Sarah pulled out her cell phone and then began to dial a number. "I'll call Assistant Director Douglas in D.C, see what he has to say about NSA is trying to jeopardize the life of a Federal witness… Maybe I can get him to sign off the proper paperwork needed for transferring Ms. O'Brian to the FBI custody…"

After hearing what Sarah said, the two NSA agents became quite concerned. After exchanging a look with his partner, Agent Chambers quickly said diplomatically.

"Look, we don't want to turn this into a full blown jurisdiction pissing match so how about this: Why don't you come along with us and we'll let you questioning Ms. O'Brian..."

Upon hearing that, Sarah hanged up her call and let out a huge relieved sigh mentally. Truth to be told, she actually wasn't calling Assistant Director Douglas at all. It was a bluff on her part. She remembered a couple of weeks ago her late partner, Scott Riley, pulled the same stunt on some CTU agent who was claiming jurisdiction over a case they were working on and after Scott pulled this little stunt, the CTU agent backed off. Therefore, Sarah thought she could pull the same stunt with those NSA agents. Truth to be told, she didn't know whether her bluff would work in this situation, but much to her surprise, she actually bluffed those NSA agents successfully.

"T…Thank you." Sarah said.

"Not a problem. I'm Agent Chambers by the way, and this is Agent Pike." Agent Chambers introduced him and his partner to Sarah. "We should get going."

Sarah simply nodded and then she hastily entered the backseat of the car. Upon entering the vehicle, she was greeted by Chloe's awkward staring. From the looks of it, she could tell the woman was feeling quite uneasy, even scared, maybe. Hoping to put the woman at ease, Sarah began introducing herself in a friendly and yet professional manner.

"Ms. O'Brian, I'm Special Agent Sarah Ferris. I'm with the FBI..."

Even though Chloe only over heard parts of Sarah's conversation with those NSA agents, she quickly deduced that the young FBI agent knew Renee was in trouble and wanted to find her. Since she figured she could trust her, Chloe was definitely willing to tell Sarah about Jack and Renee's current predicament, hoping that Sarah could lend a helping hand. However, she didn't want to bring up the topic in front of those two NSA agents. She wanted to discuss it with the young FBI agent in private. As a result, Chloe continued to stare at Sarah in an unease and awkward fashion. Despite that, she actually hoped that maybe this young FBI agent can somehow get her out of this mess and so she can try to find both Jack and Renee and help them…

**1:25:19**

After having the cabbie drove around for a while to ensure no-one was following them, Jack instructed the cabbie to drop him and Renee off at a gas station with giant Korean characters written on its signs. Since it already passed the midnight so as expected, the gas station was devoid of vehicles and patrons. The convenience store besides the pumps was still open, but its doors and windows were covered with various commercial posters and signs, so it was impossible to see the interior of the store aside from the florescent lights, emitting brightly from its ceiling. After getting out of the taxi, instinctively, Jack began to scan his surroundings. Aside from a few cars in the street, there was no one around. After making sure it was safe, he turned to Renee. Jack could tell under her calmed surface, she was feeling skittish at the moment.

"C'mon, Renee, we got get moving…"

"Jack, just tell me what the hell is going on? Who are you talking to on the phone earlier?" Renee asked. Her tone was filled with confusion, fear, and a hint of anger as well. Although she trusted Jack, she just wished that Jack wouldn't keep her in the dark about certain things and from the looks of it, Jack definitely know a lot more about the current situation they were in. Therefore, she wanted some answers from him, and she's not going anywhere until she got them.

Jack, on the other hand, was dreading about this upcoming discussion with Renee. Part of him wanted to hold it off as long as he can because he was ashamed of what he had done. Not only had he used her name as a justification to trying to kill Kirilenko, as oppose to simply bring that criminal to justice and exposed the Russian conspiracy that happened 18 months ago, he also almost send her to her death. The memory of what happened that fateful morning still haunted him. If he hadn't gone against his instinct and put Renee in the assault team, that son of a bitch Pavel Tokerav wouldn't have recognized her and gravely injured her later that morning. Jack thought if he trusted his instinct and didn't trust Rawlins this morning Renee probably wouldn't be in this perilous predicament in the first place. _Damn it…_ Jack felt he had failed her again, like he had failed Teri and Audrey. Despite his guilt, he knew he still had to tell Renee about Rawlins and what he tried to do this morning.

"The person I was talking to was an U.S. Army General named Rawlins… I thought I could arrange to have you placed in his protective custody until I find out who's after you. He's also the one behind the attack on the FBI field office and Lugansky's murder…" Jack said with deep regrets.

Upon hearing what Jack said, Renee's eyes widened due to her shock and confusion. What Jack had told her pretty much confirmed her earlier suspicion about Jack's phone conversation with Rawlins, whom she had no knowledge of at the time. Renee knew Jack was trying to protect her and she really appreciated that, but she didn't thought he would be involved with a U.S. Army General who, according to Jack, was actually the one who was after her. _What the hell is going on? How the hell did Jack get involved with an U.S Army General? And why is an Army General wanted to kill me?_ With confusion and worry written all over her face, Renee demanded more answers from Jack.

"Okay… Jack, what are you doing with an Army General? And why would an Army General want to see me dead, let alone attacking the FBI field office and killing Minister Lugansky?"

"Rawlins is the one who brought me stateside… He told me Kirilenko was part of the Russian conspiracy 18 months ago and he asked me to take Kirilenko out this morning …" Jack stated somberly. "I only agreed to do so because…because at the time I wanted nothing more than kill every one of those bastards who were responsible for what happened on that day, including what happened to you…"

"So that's why you were at the scene of IRK Foreign Minister's assassination this morning… You were here to kill Kirilenko but Kirilenko killed the IRK Foreign Minister and framed you instead…" Renee stated. With so much stuff happening, she didn't really have the time to think about why Jack was at the scene of IRK Foreign Minister's assassination until now.

Jack nodded. At the same time, as he began putting the pieces together, he quickly realized that the attempt to take out Kirilenko, along with the Lugansky's abduction and the subsequent IRK extremists' broadcast, were possibly all parts of Rawlins' grand scheme to ignite a war between Russia and IRK. He didn't know why Rawlins would want that but he knew that son of a bitch already got what he wanted, and now he was cleaning up the loose ends. Immediately, he shared the information with Renee.

"He played me… The attempt on Kirilenko was probably part of his maneuvers to make sure Russia is at odd with IRK. He must thought if Kirilenko is dead then the truth behind the attack in Moscow dies with him… He probably found out about you and your knowledge of that part of Kirilenko's operation, so that's why he's after you. He's tying up the loose ends to ensure no one learn the truth behind that attack so that the war between Russia and IRK would continue…"

After hearing Jack's revelation, Renee was even more dumbfounded and saddened. She was shocked to find that an U.S Army General was actually trying to start war between Russia and IRK for reasons unknown. At the same time, she was also saddened by the realization that because of her, Jack got dragged into another giant conspiracy, and she hated herself for it. Renee also hated the fact that this Rawlins character managed to manipulate Jack into doing his dirty work when he was in an emotional dark place. _It shouldn't have happened if I somehow let Jack know I was alive… It shouldn't have happened if I recognized Pavel Tokerav right the way at the scene…_ Renee thought as her expression darkened.

"I should've seen it coming earlier. Instead, I trusted the guy hoping that he could protect you from whoever is coming after you, and I almost led you right to him…. Renee, I'm so sorry…I screwed up…" Jack said somberly, with deep regrets.

"Jack, listen. It's not your fault. You didn't screw up anything. You couldn't have seen it coming… Besides, I'm the one you should be blaming… I'm the one who keep dragging you into my mess…I dragged you into my mess with Vladimir Laitanan 18 months ago and now I'm dragging you into another one of my messes…" Renee said bitterly, as a single tear rolled over her cheek.

"Hey…" Jack said to Renee softly after wiping the tear off her cheek. It pained him to see Renee that sad and he wished she would stop blaming herself for what had happened. It was not her fault that everything went so wrong. "Look, Renee, it's not your fault…"

"It is… If I haven't screw up that operation 18 months ago, you would be in California with Kim and your granddaughter, not going around in the city trying to assassinate some Russian megalomaniac…" Renee said bitterly as she fought back her tears. She wanted nothing more than to fix the damages she had caused. She wanted to reunite Jack with his family, burden free and without anyone coming after him. However, at the moment, she had no idea how to do it, consider the Russian government was still after Jack and now this Rawlins guy was also after him. Feeling defeated, she continued.

"Now you have this Rawlins guy gunning for you because of me, and the Russian government is also after you as well… Lugansky told me that his boss reneged on the deal to not come after you if you rescued him…"

Truth to be told, Jack wasn't really surprised that Suvarov did not hold his end of the bargain, considering he tried to assassinate him 18 months ago. Plus, with Lugansky dead and the world probably think he killed him, the deal wouldn't even matter at this point. Jack didn't really care what will happen to him. At this point, as long as Renee and his family were safe and sound, he can live with any consequence throw at him. Right now, he knew they needed to regroup and figure out what their next steps will be, and he knew just the place.

"Look, we'll figure it out, but we need to get moving. Chloe has set up a safe house in Santa Clarita…" Technically, the safe house was just a storage space filled with computers and equipments, but it was better than nothing. However, soon as Jack finished the sentence, he quickly realized he also made a very huge mistake this morning, taking the consideration of what just happened earlier. He couldn't believe he managed to screw up once again put the people he cared about in grave danger. Immediately, his expression darkened. The fear and worry were written all over Jack's face.

"Oh my God…"

"Jack, what's wrong?" Renee quickly asked upon seeing Jack's darkened expression. She knew something was wrong and whatever it was, it was not good. It really worried her to see Jack like that.

"I asked Rawlins to help me find Chloe this morning. That son of a bitch got Chloe's info…"

**1:32:49**

As the car drove past the sparse traffic, with her neck rested on her right hand, Sarah continued staring out of the car window lazily, trying to divert her attention from the throbbing pain and discomfort in her left abdomen. Moments ago she asked Chloe about what Jack and Renee's current situation, but Chloe was somewhat reluctant to answer her question. Originally, Sarah thought Chloe didn't trust her. However, with the two NSA agents also in the car, she then realized that Chloe probably wanted to talk in somewhere private. Strangely, both NSA agents also didn't like to chit-chat either. As a result, there was an eerie and awkward silence inside the car. Geez, _even for NSA agents_, _these guys are really uptight …_ Sarah groaned as she continued looking as Los Angele's night scenery. All of the sudden, something caught her attention. She noticed something strange from the car's right side mirror. She saw Agent Pike, who was sitting in the front passenger seat in front of her, seemed to be screwing a long black cylinder-like object onto his sidearm. Immediately, Sarah became alerted and shocked by what she saw. It was a suppressor. She knew it was standard for NSA agents to be armed when escorting a suspect, but it was less than standard for them to carry suppressors, let alone brandishing and equipping them when there was obviously no need. _Those guys ain't NSA agents…Oh my God…_ Upon arriving to the terrifying conclusion, Sarah knew she needed to do something about it before thing gets even worse for her and Chloe. Fortunately for her, she was actually carrying a Glock 26. Agent Caffrey was kindly enough to loan the spare weapon to her after she checked herself out of the hospital. Therefore, without missing a beat, Sarah quickly pulled her Glock 26 and pointed directly at back of Agent Chambers' head.

"You guys aren't NSA agents, are you?" She asked.

After seeing Sarah pulled her gun on those NSA agents, Chloe was shocked. At first, she didn't know what the hell was going on, but soon she quickly realized that maybe the young FBI agent was right. It was way too big of a coincidence that right after Jack and Renee were framed for Minister Lugansky's murder, those NSA agents showed up and transferred her into their custody on very vague ground. It also confirmed her suspicion about those NSA agents. They were probably working with whoever was behind the scene of the events in the past hours. However, at the same time, Chloe also realized how dangerous her current situation had become. Her eyes widened as the terror began to sink in.

"Look, just take it easy…" Chambers said to Sarah, after knowing their cover had been blown. They were mercenaries who were under Kessler's orders to extract Chloe O'Brian from CTU under the guise of NSA agents. With the phony official documents supplied by Rawlins' office, they thought they could just walk into CTU, collect the target, and then get out without raising any fuss. However, both Chambers and Pikes didn't count on Sarah showing up and almost exposing them with her phone call to the FBI's office in D.C. Despite that, they considered the meddlesome FBI agent to be nothing more than a minor speed bump to their operation. Therefore, they planned to kill Sarah and dispose her body once they got out of CTU, but somehow, she caught on to them. _The bitch is too clever for her own good…_

"Hand over the weapon slowly..." Sarah ordered. Truth to be told, she was nervous and scared as hell, but she tried to hide those emotions. She thought once those fake NSA agents surrendered their weapons and stopped the car, she would call Agent Caffrey and tell him to send backups. She then turned her attention to Pike, who was driving the car at the moment. "…and you… pull the car over!"

"Alright…" Pike replied, and then he quickly shot his partner a look, signalling him that he was gonna do something about the situation. After Chambers acknowledged his partner's signal, Pike quickly made a sharp turn with his steering wheel, causing the car to swerving violently to the left. The sudden motion caught Sarah completely off-guard, causing her to bump into Chloe and dropping her Glock 26 in process. Without wasting any time, Chambers quickly turned around and pointed his suppressed Smith & Wesson 5906 at Sarah. He was ready to pull the trigger at that instance.

After seeing Chambers' weapon, Sarah instinctively leaned forward and grabbed his gun. She tried to wrestle the gun away from her and Chloe's direction, but she found herself didn't have the strength to do so since she just got off the surgery a few hours ago. As she continued to struggle to keep the gun away from pointing at her or Chloe's direction, couple of suppressed shots actually went off. Fortunately, the bullets either hit the roof of the car or the car's rear window.

Chloe, at the same time, stayed low as soon as bullets started flying inside the car. She was terrified by the situation she had found herself in, and to make matters even worse, she was still in handcuff, courtesy of those fake NSA agents. She remembered that she found herself in the similar situation before where she and a witness were trapped inside a CTU vehicle and a gunman was ramming the car with his truck. Fortunately at the time, she managed to get her hand on an assault rifle and killed the gunman who was trying to kill her and the witness. Even though she didn't like guns, Chloe wished that right now she had one so that she could help the young FBI agent. Suddenly, she noticed Sarah's Glock 26 lying on the floor of the car. Clumsily, she managed to pick the gun up with both of her handcuffed hands. As soon as she picked up Sarah's gun, she quickly raised the gun and opened fire at Chambers, who was still struggling with Sarah at the time. However, upon noticing Chloe held up a gun, Chambers quickly tilted his head and he managed to avoid being shot by the former CTU analyst. Due to the fact that the shot was unsuppressed and it was fired at close proximity to Pike, as a result, he was completely disoriented by the sudden load bang near his right ear, causing him to lose control of the car. Without any warning, the car swerved widely off the road and crashed into a truck that parked on the side of the road.

Even though the force from the crash didn't knock Sarah completely unconscious, she still reeled from its painful effect. It felt like someone had hit her with baseball bat. As the world surrounding her started becoming more and more clearer to her as oppose to a giant blur, she let out a pained groan. Her head hurt like hell and her entire body was also aching as well. Right now, Sarah wanted nothing more than to curl into the fetal position and tried to forget the pain, but knowing the danger probably had not yet passed, she needed to try to tough it out. After she regained most of her conscious, she felt someone was nudging her left shoulder.

"Agent Ferris!" Chloe said as she nudged Sarah again with her cuffed hands, hoping the young FBI agent was alright.

"I… I'm alright…" Sarah answered as she quickly checked her gunshot wound on her left abdomen. Luckily, her surgical wound wasn't torn open by the force of the impact. She then noticed the two fake NSA agents seemed to be completely knocked out by either the force from the crash or the deployment of the safety airbags. Noticing Chloe's cuffed hands, Sarah then began searching the unconscious fake NSA agent in front of her, hoping to find a handcuff key. Fortunately, she found it immediately.

"We need to get out of here…" She said after tossing the handcuff key to Chloe. She then collected her Glock 26 and proceeded to exit the wrecked vehicle.

Chloe nodded as she hastily uncuffed herself. At the same time, after getting out of the car, Sarah took out her phone and began dialing CTU. However, before she started dialing she noticed she had no cellular signal reception. _You gotta be kidding me… _Sarah whined. She then looked around her surroundings and saw a multi-story car park nearby. Figuring she probably needed to get to the higher ground for better reception, Sarah turned around to Chloe and urged.

"C'mon, this way…"

Chloe simply followed Sarah's lead. Right now, she pretty much had no other choice but to trust the young FBI agent. She figured once they got clear maybe she can burrow the Sarah's phone to call Jack and Renee. _Maybe they know who the hell is behind all of these…_ She thought as she and Sarah ran into the multi-story parking garage.

**1:36:22**

After they ran up the ramp of multi-story parking deck to the second floor and further into the parking deck, Chloe noticed Sarah, who had stopped suddenly, bent down, put her hands on her knees, and then proceed to pant laboriously. From the looks of it, the young FBI agent was about to throw up. Figuring Sarah was probably wounded during the attack on the FBI field office a few hours ago, Chloe walked up to her and said.

"Agent Ferris, you okay?"

"I…I'm… fine… I just…need a…a…minute…" Sarah said stubbornly despite she was out of breath. She knew she shouldn't have put her body in such strain, but knowing they were probably not out of the woods yet, she needed to press on. However, without any warning, a stray bullet hit the window of the white SUV on Sarah left. Instinctively, she immediately grabbed Chloe and took cover behind a blue sedan on her right. _How the hell did those bastards find us? Aren't they still unconscious? _Right after she and Chloe got behind the vehicle, another series of shots slammed into the side of the blue sedan and shattered the car's headlight as well.

At the same time, Chambers, who using a silver convertible at Sarah's 1 o'clock direction as cover, continued firing in controlled bursts at the blue sedan where Sarah and Chloe were using as cover with his Steyr AUG A3 assault rifle with EOTech reflex sight and RIS foregrip. After the crash, Chambers managed to notice both women running toward a multi-storey parking deck nearby as he was regaining his conscious. Therefore, after waking up his partner, Pike, both men grabbed the heavy weapons from the trunk and proceeded into the parking deck. Right now, Chambers had both O'Brian and that meddlesome FBI agent pinned. He hastily radioed his partner, who was currently sweeping the ground level of the parking garage, telling him to get to the upper level so they can have those two women cornered.

With her back leaned against the SUV and her Glock 26 already out, Sarah decided to get a clearer look at the shooter by peeking from behind the cover of the vehicle. However, just as soon as she began sticking her head out only for a little bit, bursts of bullets slammed the hood of the sedan, sending sparks and chipped paints flying everywhere. _Crap…_ Sarah cursed after she quickly ducked down behind the safety of the cover and winced as another bursts of bullets hit the hood of the sedan again. She couldn't see the shooter but she was certain that those shots came from her 2 o'clock direction. The shooter had them pinned.

After firing another burst, Chambers stayed low and swiftly moved behind the red sedan that was at his 2 o'clock direction. The new position behind the red sedan was actually closer to Sarah's current position, since the car was parked 3 parking spaces in front of the blue sedan the meddlesome FBI agent was using as cover. _Got you, you little bitch... _He thought right after he took cover.

Sarah, on the other hand, noticed the shooter stopped firing at them. Thinking the shooter was probably reloading, she hastily popped out behind the cover and opened fire at the silver convertible at her 2 o'clock direction. However, instead of the shooter, her bullets only found their marks on the sides of the silver convertible. All of the sudden, Sarah caught some movements in her peripheral vision. She saw the shooter, who emerged from behind the red sedan that was 3 parking spaces in front of her current position, aiming his automatic weapon at her. Without missing a beat, she immediately ducked down behind her cover as bullets started flying again. _What the hell?_ Leaning her back against the sedan's right front door, Sarah injected her magazine from her Glock 26 onto her left hand and did a quickly ammo check. She was shocked only to find that there were only 7 rounds left in the magazine. To make the matter even worse, she didn't have any spare magazine. As she re-inserted the only magazine she had into her pistol, Sarah quickly realized how dire she and Chloe's situation had become. They were severely outgunned by a shooter armed with automatic weapon. To make the matter worse, her wound was acting up again, as a painfully reminder of what had happened to her a few hours ago. _This isn't happening again… This isn't happening again…_ She thought in denial as fear and panic began to sink in.

Meanwhile, with both of her hands covering her head, Chloe tried to make herself as small as possible behind the cover of the sedan. Aside from very few times in the past, she rarely found herself in a dangerous situation like the one she was currently facing. Looking for any assurance of safety, she turned to Sarah. However, she quickly noticed the fear and panic were written all over the young FBI agent's face. From Sarah's darkened expression, Chloe could tell that right now, their situation was obviously getting worse. Knowing that something needed to be done in order to get them both out of their current predicament, she suggested.

"Couldn't we just hot-wire the car and use it to get out of here?"

"What? What makes you think I know how to hot-wire a car?" Sarah said to Chloe in both confusion and panic.

Upon hearing what Sarah said, Chloe shot her an _'Are you kidding me?'_ look. However, right after she did so, another batch of bullets hit into the blue sedan's windshield, shattering it into millions of pieces in process. Chloe quickly covered her head with both her hands again and winced as hails of bullets continued hitting the sedan, denting its hood and shattering the car's left windows in process. Right now, she was terrified.

"Do something!" Chloe urged in panic as she winced.

After seeing a terrified Chloe, Sarah knew she needed to protect her and get her out of here safely. It was her duty to do so. Plus, Chloe O'Brian was the only lead at the moment that could help her find Jack and Renee. Fighting her fear, panic, and pain, Sarah began to pull herself together again as her survival instinct began to kick in. Sarah thought maybe they simply could try to make a run for it, but the shooter in front of them would just gun them down as soon as he had clear line of sight on them. _Wait…the shooter is in front!_ Suddenly, an idea came to her mind. Sarah quickly dropped down on her left side. Through the space under the car's carriage, she had a clear light of sight on the feet and ankles of the shooter on her 12' O'clock direction couple cars from them. Without missing a beat, she extended her pistol into the narrow space below the car and fired four shots. Luckily, she was able to hit the shooter's right foot, causing him to let out an agonizing scream as well as lose his balance in process.

"C'mon, let's go!" She said to Chloe, and then she grabbed her and ran.

After losing his balance and fell down on the floor, Chambers, withholding his excruciating pain on his right foot, managed to get up slowly using the hood of the red sedan in front of him as support. Just as he got up, he saw O'Brian and that FBI agent running as fast as they could away from the scene. Quickly, Chambers trained his Steyr AUG A3 assault rifle at their direction again and prepared to open fire. However, just as soon as he readied his weapon, both Sarah and Chloe already took a right turn and disappeared from his line of sight. Despite being nearly immobilized by the wounded right foot, Chambers still tried to catch up to those two women by walking with a limp, emitting pained grunt in his each step. _That little bitch is gonna pay… _

After Sarah and Chloe took a right turn, they saw an exit stairwell nearby. Hastily, they ran toward it, hoping to get to the street as soon as they could. However, right before they entered the stairwell, Sarah heard footsteps. Immediately, she thought of another shooter coming up of the staircases. Without missing a beat, she signalled Chloe to stay back, and then both women quickly hugged the wall beside the stairwell entrance. _Crap…_Sarah thought about going back but the shooter she wounded a few minutes ago was still active. As the footsteps getting closer and closer to them, Sarah knew they were cornered. Knowing that she only had 3 rounds left inside her magazine, things couldn't get any more worse for her and Chloe. Leaning against the wall, Sarah closed her eyes again. Trying to keep her fear and panic in check, she knew they had no other options but to shoot their way out…

At the same time, Pike, one the fake NSA agents, was coming up to the second floor stair landing. Like a trained operator, Pike already had his H&K G36C assault rifle trained upward facing the upper stairway's direction while he was cautiously moving up to the stair landing. Therefore, as soon as he reached the stair landing, he observed that no one at the second floor's doorway. Despite not seeing anyone, it didn't mean the doorway to the second floor was clear. He instinct told him those women were probably around the corner. Therefore, he slowly and cautiously moved up the stairs while keeping his weapon trained at the upper level. However, right after he walked couple of steps up, all of the sudden, he quickly noticed a gun sticking out of the doorway. Due to the small confined space of the stairway, Pike didn't have any room to maneuver or take cover, so he had no choice but to return fire at the doorway, hoping to hit whoever was shooting at him. However, due to the fact that whoever was shooting at him was blindfiring from behind the cover, Pike's bullets hit nothing but air. The exchange of gunfire was abruptly cut short as a stray bullet somehow managed to find its intended mark in Pike's chest, killing him in process.

After blindfiring all remaining 3 rounds in her magazine, Sarah heard a sickening thud followed by the sound of weapon dropping on the floor as hails of bullets stopped flying past her. Figuring it was the sound of body hitting the floor, Sarah nervously stick her head out of the door and took a peek, hoping that she got the shooter coming up of the stairway. She then saw Pike's body lying lifelessly on the stairway landing. For the moment, Sarah couldn't believe that actually worked. Maybe it was some dumb luck but she managed to hit the guy by blindfiring her weapon, but regardless, they needed to get moving.

"C'mon." she urged Chloe to follow her after seeing that the stairwell was clear. As fast as they could, both women ran down the flights of stairs. After they made it to the street, Sarah couldn't help but to get a little déjà vu. She recalled what happened this morning after she and Renee escaped from those Russian hitmen in the Sunrise Hill shopping mall. Knowing they needed a vehicle to escape from the scene fast, Sarah, after closing the slide of her Glock 26, took out her badge and stepped into an incoming vehicle. Flashing her badge and gun, she shouted.

"Federal Agent! I need to commandeer your vehicle!"

Unknown best to the poor driver, she didn't know that Sarah's gun was empty. Upon seeing Sarah's gun and her badge, the scared driver immediately got out of her car with her hands up, and then she quickly made a run for it. Truth to be told, Sarah kinda felt bad commandeering the poor woman's car, considering it wasn't really safe at the night, but she and Chloe really had no choice. Looking at a skittish Chloe, Sarah hoped that she could help her find Renee before anything bad happened to her. At the same time, she also wondered what the hell exactly was going on…

**1:44:30**

"How the hell do you mean your men don't have her! It should be a cake wake. All they have to do is walk into CTU, get O'Brian, and then get out. How the hell did they screw something that simple up!" Rawlins scolded Kessler right after hearing Kessler's report over the phone. He had ordered Kessler to have his men grab Chloe O'Brian so they can use her to locate Bauer and Walker. Knowing she was inside CTU, Rawlins had his aide produced the fake transfer paperwork so Kessler's men could walk O'Brian out of a secured government building without causing any issue. However, somehow, those guys screwed that up. Rawlins was surprised considering he had employed Kessler's mercenary outfit's services in the past and even when he tasked them with brutal assignments, his people always delivered. Despite he was angry about the screw up, he knew he probably needed to have his aide to check the inter-agency chatter to see whether or not Kessler's men had been compromised, hence, putting his entire plan at risk.

"General, from what my men have told me, they walked O'Brian out of CTU without any problem. CTU didn't suspect a thing…" Kessler explained, ensuring that the operation had not been compromised. "Unfortunately, my men encountered an unforeseen complication when they were transporting the precious cargo. There was a FBI agent named Sarah Ferris who showed up and wanted to talk to O'Brian. They tried to dispose her quietly but she managed to kill one of my men and escaped with the O'Brian…"

"So you're telling me some FBI agent manage to get the best of two of your men, both highly trained operators nevertheless, and escaped with O'Brian?" Rawlins stated rhetorically. He was not pleased to her Kessler's report even though there was no sign of his operation being compromised. As he put his hand over his forehead and sighed in frustration, Rawlins knew rather than sit there and be angry about it, he and Kessler needed to come up with another plan to deal with both Jack Bauer and Renee Walker.

"So what are you doing to rectify the situation? Are you tracking that meddlesome FBI agent?"

_If your boy has done his job properly this morning, we would be in Phase III right now instead dealing with this Charlie Foxtrot… _Kessler thought angrily. However, he kept the thought to himself since he didn't want to offend the guy who was cutting his pay checks. At the same time, one of his technicians showed up and gave him a touch screen PC tablet that contained the progress report on Module 67's decryption and Chloe O'Brian's information. After quickly scrolled through those, he said over his headset.

"Actually, General, I have something better in mind. Right now, we're a bit behind of our schedule. Aside from decrypting Module 67 and preparation for its integration to our system, we still need to reconfigure the Kosmo satellite for the next stage of the operation…" Kessler stated. The Kosmo satellite he mentioned was one of the many old defunct Soviet satellites, which was sold to an Asian communication firm quite a while back and the firm had been using it as a civilian purpose. Rawlins and Kessler managed to obtain the control of the satellite covertly through illegal means after the communication firm went under. "Therefore, it's imperative that we wrap up this Walker mess quickly… Now, General, are you willing to do what's necessary to win?"

"You know the answer to that, Mr. Kessler."

"Then you shouldn't have any problem with what I'm about to do…" Kessler said ominously, as he continued scroll through Chloe's files displayed on his touch screen tablet and started making another call...

**1:46:25**

At the moment, Ethan was walking through the hallway of West Wing and he was on his way to see President Hayworth. From his meeting with Joint Chiefs and national security advisors, he had learned that if they were to halt the Russian invasion IRK by force, U.S. and NATO air force could launch air strikes against the Russian's main supply line within Kamistan. Truth to be told, Ethan wasn't favoring this option since it could lead to a potential confrontation with Moscow. Therefore, aside from going over the assessments of the Russian incursion into IRK's territory, he also had been going over the reports on the terrorist attack in Moscow three weeks ago as well, in hope to find something he could use to diffuse this conflict. One thing that really bothered him was that the reports wasn't really clear on how did those IRK extremists acquire the nerve gas that was used in their attack in Moscow. Last time he checked, Islamic Republic of Kamistan did not possess any chemical weapon officially considering they were a signatory of CWC (Chemical Weapons Convention). Although there were rumours of IRK secretly stockpiling chemical weapons illegally, the late President Omar Hassan had already ensured US and the UN they had destroyed those stockpiles during the peace treaty negotiation. Therefore, Ethan thought considering the nature of attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago, maybe they could persuade the UN to send in an inspection team into IRK to check to see if there was any chemical weapon production facility active in the country. Even though Ethan did not expect them to find anything, he figured with an UN inspection team on the ground, the Russian might de-escalate their activities in the region. It was only a flimsy delay tactic, but it was the only plan they got right now. Therefore, he wanted to discuss this with President Hayworth first. After the Secret Service agent opened the side door for him, he walked into the Oval Office and saw Hayworth, Watts, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, Tim Woods present. From the looks of it, the mood was grim at best.

"What's going on?" Ethan asked upon sensing the tense mood inside the Oval Office.

"Ethan, I had some bad news. Just as I briefed the President minutes ago, it seemed that Jack Bauer had abducted Minister Lugansky when he was en-route to the airport and subsequently, killed him…" Tim Woods reported.

_Dear God…_ Upon hearing what Tim Woods said, Ethan was absolutely horrified. At the same time, he really had trouble believing that. He thought it didn't make any sense for Jack to kill Minister Lugansky, considering he put his life on the line to save him from those IRK extremists two hours ago. Plus, with Renee still alive, Jack really had no reason to go after the Russians like what he did 18 months ago. _What the hell is going on?_

"You vouched for that deranged maniac and look what happened!" Derek Watts scolded Ethan. "He managed to kill another one of Russia's Foreign Minister on U.S. soil! The Russians are already sore at us for letting their Foreign Minister get abducted by those Kamistani nut jobs and now this happened. Do you know how much effort this administration has put in order to repair the damage caused by Taylor's wild accusations?"

"Mr. Watts, with all due respect, just because we did not find any solid proof of the Russians' wrong doing at that day doesn't mean they are not involved..." Ethan quickly shot back at Watts. Even to this date, he still appalled by Hayworth's decision to mend the fence with the Russians for political expedience instead pursuing the truth about what happened on that day, not to mention in doing so, his administration pretty much threw Allison Taylor under the bus. However, he knew there were more pressing matters at hand so he decided not argue about that further. "Look, I brought Bauer into the picture. If he is really guilty of killing Minister Lugansky, I'm willing to take full responsibility..."

"I expect you to do so nevertheless…. However, that being said, I still like you to stay on as my special advisor until this crisis is over. You have experiences dealing with the players inside Kremlin and we need that, but mark my word, if the crisis escalated then it's on you…"" President Hayworth said sternly to Ethan. Truth to be told, he was just setting up Ethan as a fall guy so that his administration won't be held responsible in case the entire mess with Bauer, Russia, and IRK became unmanageable. He then turned his attention to Tim Woods.

"Tell CTU that they have every resource available to locate Bauer. Whatever it takes, I want him in chains as soon as possible…" Hayworth said, hoping that by having Bauer in Federal custody, cool things down with the Russians.

"Mr. President, if I may…" Watts quickly said as soon as President Hayworth finished his conversation with Tim Woods. "We know that by capturing Minister Lugansky's killer might put the Russians slightly as ease, but I don't think that's gonna solve our problem completely. Their Foreign Minister is still dead. The damage has already been done. Therefore, in order to repair our relationship with Russia to the fullest extent, I think we might need to consider the option of staying out of the war between Russia and Kamistan. That way, the Russians might cut us some slacks on the whole business with Bauer and Minister Lugansky…"

After hearing what Derek Watts said, Ethan couldn't believe Hayworth's Chief of Staff was still trying to sacrifice Dalian Hassan's administration in favour of political expedient with the Russians. Controlling his disgust, he quickly re-iterated the point he made a few hours ago.

"Mr. President, I don't think abandoning IRK diplomatically would solve our current situation with the Russians. Plus, if we abandoned IRK, what kind of message would we send to our allies in the region, let alone the world? I might have a diplomatic solution regarding the war between Russia and IRK…"

"Wait, so you're telling us you're willing to risk World War III with the Russians?" Watts suddenly interrupted Ethan. "Their Foreign Minister was murdered on our soil and now you still want to tell them to stop their military actions against a rogue nation whose operatives conducted terrorist attacks against their civilians and government officials?"

At the same time, after hearing the discussion between his Chief of Staff and Ethan, President Hayworth became a bit worried. He was worried that the Russians might retaliate in some capacity considering it was the second time their Foreign Minister was murdered on U.S soil, by the same individual nevertheless. They were already at odds with Moscow. At best, they might be facing a second Cold War with the Russians. At worst, the Russians might initiate retaliatory strikes against the U.S military assets, considering the recent rise of hardliner's influences inside Kremlin. However, Hayworth thought the latter was less likely since the Russians were now with their war with Kamistan and they weren't stupid enough to provoke a world war. That being said, he wasn't looking toward to a second Cold War with the Russians either.

"Tim, what's Russians' reaction on this? Is there a possibility that we're heading into a second Cold War" The President asked.

"Mr. President, we're still observing the aftershock from Minister Lugansky's death. Nothing is concrete at the moment. It's too early to tell." Tim Woods stated.

President Hayworth sighed. Right now, he was only certain of one thing: The Russians were not going to be happy about the death of another one of their Foreign Minister. He thought maybe his Chief of Staff was right. Maybe if they did not step between the conflict between Russia and IRK, the Russians might cut them some slacks for letting Bauer murdered their Foreign Minister for the second time. Plus, technically, IRK wasn't exactly one of those responsible players in the world stage. _Aside from their spotty records on illegally developing nuclear arsenals in the past, their operatives conducted terrorist attack in the Russian capital 3 weeks ago, causing millions of deaths…_ Therefore, Hayworth made his decision. However, he didn't want to make it look like the U.S. just flat-out abandoned the Hassan administration either, so he stated.

"Gentlemen, considering what had happened with Minister Lugansky, I don't think a confrontation with Moscow over the matters of Islamic Republic of Kamistan was a good idea, so rather than trying to get in between the conflict with Russia and IRK directly, we'll opt the option of sending humanitarian supplies into IRK for now while keep urging both sides to reach a ceasefire agreement… Meanwhile, Ethan, I need you to talk to our ambassador to the UN. Security Council's emergency session is gonna be held soon so I want you to go over some of points with George. Now I gotta call to Suvarov, assuming he'll still answer my call…" President Hayworth said, and then he dismissed Tim Woods and Ethan while his Chief of Staff stayed.

After walking out of the Oval Office with Tim Woods, Ethan couldn't help but to feel defeated. With Minister Lugansky's murder and President Hayworth choosing the option of letting the Russia slugs it out with IRK, the entire mess just continuing to snowball and he felt like there was very little he could do to try to stop it. Despite that, he still determined to try. Ethan thought maybe he could run his UN inspection team idea through the US ambassador to the UN, whom he had worked closely together in the peace negotiation of the peace agreement with IRK, to see if it's feasible or not. Ethan knew it was a long shot, but at this point, long shot was what they got. Suddenly, Tim Woods' voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Ethan, you're gonna take full responsibility over that incident involving Minister Lugansky and Jack Bauer?" Tim asked. He figured the President and the Chief of the Staff were probably trying to pin his friend and former colleague as the main scapegoat for this mess if Bauer wasn't apprehended. He had already seen a friend went down in disgrace 18 months ago. He didn't want to see another one doing the same.

"That's what I said…" Ethan said firmly. Knowing Hayworth and Watts, he figured they would probably be looking for more scapegoats, and people who helped with the authorization to have Jack Bauer and Renee Walker join that rescue operation will be on their high on their list. He knew Tim was just a professional doing his job, so he quickly added. "Look, Tim, don't worry about it. I'll try to keep you out of the blowback if Hayworth and Watts decide to start pointing their fingers at you…"

Tim simply nodded in appreciation. He knew it wasn't Ethan's fault that the Russian Foreign Minister was dead. Therefore, he just hoped that CTU would apprehend Jack Bauer, the suspect in Minister Lugansky's murder soon.

At the same time, after Ethan and Tim left the Oval Office, President Hayworth felt it was now safe to discuss the empty deal he made with the Russians to trick Jack Bauer into helping them rescuing Lugansky from the IRK extremists hours ago. He wondered whether or not Bauer killed the Russian Foreign Minister because he somehow found out about the fact that.

"Derek, do you think maybe Bauer killed Lugansky because he somehow found out about the fact that there was never a deal with the Russians in the first place?" President Hayworth asked.

"It's possible, sir." Derek answered.

"So do you think he will come after me next in the future, if that son of a bitch manages to slip out of Los Angeles?"

"Look, Mr. President, every LEO in the state of California is looking for him. The Russians are probably looking for him too. Unless he grows wings, I doubt he will be able to make it out of L.A. in one piece." Watts assured the President. However, despite what he told the President, he knew what Jack Bauer was capable of. What happened to the former President Charles Logan during the final days of his tenure as the President and what happened 18 months ago were the proof of that. Therefore, he just hoped that either CTU or the Russians will take Bauer down soon…

**1:51:33**

After realizing Chloe might be in danger from Rawlins' men, Jack immediately called Chloe's cell phone, but it went straight to her voice mail. Therefore, Jack figured CTU probably had detained her since she did helped him abducted the Russian Foreign Minister an hour ago. He knew Chloe was a sitting duck inside CTU and if Rawlins was smart, he would try to grab her and use her to get to him and Renee. _Damn it! How could I not see it coming? _Despite the fact that Jack was still kicking himself for putting Chloe in a potentially perilous situation, he knew he needed to do something to save his friend. Right now, breaking into CTU seemed to be his only choice.

"Look, Jack, you can't just walk into CTU and get Chloe out. They'll arrest you on spot!" Renee said to Jack worriedly. She knew she needed to talk him out of his crazy plans considering she had already failed to talk him out of kidnapping the Russian Foreign Minister, and it had landed him in an ocean of troubles. However, on the other hand, with Chloe's life in danger, Renee also knew that they couldn't just sit there and do nothing. _There has to be a better way…_

"Renee, I don't have a choice..." Jack said after he smashed the driver's seat window of a black pickup truck. He knew Renee meant well but he had to get to Chloe before Rawlins' men can get to her. He owned her that much. For countless times, he had asked Chloe for help and she had always answered to his call, even if it meant putting herself at risk. Jack thought he had already put enough people he cared about in jeopardy, so he needed to do something to fix the situation. He had a rough plan in mind. Basically, he thought he can carjack some CTU employee's vehicle and threatened that said CTU employee to smuggle him inside CTU, like when he threatened that weasel Jason Pillar to smuggle him inside CTU's secured perimeter around UN headquarter 18 months ago. Jack knew it was a very long shot, but what choice did he have?

"Maybe I can turn myself in and try to get Chloe out of CTU in process. I can also tell them you didn't kill Lugansky…" Renee suggested.

"Look, Renee, I know you want to help but once CTU detained you, Rawlins is gonna know where you are and you'll be a sitting duck at CTU…" Jack said. Aside from not wanting to put her in Rawlins' crosshair, he also didn't want to see Renee arrested for something she wasn't remotely responsible for. Therefore, Jack decided to tell Renee to head to the safe house in Santa Clarita first. He also decided to tell her that she can run support from there since he knew she wasn't gonna just sit there idly. Before he opened his mouth again, suddenly, his cell phone rang. It was an unknown number, but regardless, Jack answered.

"Who is this?"

"Jack!" Chloe said over Sarah's phone. She was absolute relieved to hear Jack's voice. "Are you alright? Is Renee Okay?"

"We're fine, Chloe… Look, if you're still in the CTU, you need to get out now. Someone might be coming after you…"

"I know, Jack… Some guys pretended to be NSA agents tried to kidnap me, but Renee's friend, Agent Ferris, saved me from those guys… Jack, what the hell is going on? They say you killed the Russian Foreign Minister…"

_Agent Ferris… Isn't she supposed to be in the hospital?_ Jack thought. Even though he got a feeling good feeling about that young FBI agent, he still didn't trust her completely. Considering Rawlins' betrayal, Jack didn't want to put his trust in someone whom he had only known for a short time. Therefore, after telling Chloe to hold on for a moment, he covered his cell phone's mouthpiece and then turned his attention to Renee.

"That young FBI agent, Ferris, do you trust her?"

"Yeah Jack. She might be a bit green but she's a good agent…" Renee vouched for Sarah. She understood Jack had a very hard time trusting someone whom he didn't know, and considered what happened earlier, she didn't blame him. "Wait, is she with Chloe? Isn't she supposed to be in the hospital?"

"Yeah, Chloe said she's with her. Apparently Rawlins made his move on her and your friend saved her…" Jack said to Renee. He thought that if Renee trusted that young FBI agent, then it was a good enough reason for him to trust her as well. He put the phone on speaker. "Chloe, you're on speaker with me and Renee. Is Agent Ferris with you?"

"Yeah, she's driving. I'm gonna put her on speaker as well…"

Sarah, at the same time, was dying to talk to both Renee and Jack. Not only she wanted to make sure they were safe, she also wanted to know what the hell was going on as well. Therefore, as soon as Chloe put her phone on speaker, she quickly said.

"Renee! Jack! Are you guys alright?"

"We're fine, Sarah. Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?" Renee asked. She was worried about Sarah, considering she was probably still recovering from the surgery.

"I checked myself out after hearing what happened over the phone…" Sarah said. Wanting to find out more about the current situation, she quickly blabbed out a series of questions on top of her mind. "Look, Renee, what the hell is going? There are people trying to kill you even though Kirilenko is dead, and there are some guys masquerading as NSA agents chasing Ms. O'Brian and me… And please tell me you and Jack don't have anything to do with the Russian Foreign Minister's murder…"

"Sarah, Jack did not kill Minister Lugansky. He was still alive when we left him…" Renee stated. Although she was a bit angry at Sarah for checking herself out of hospital when she should be recovering from her wound, Renee was still glad that she somehow managed to get to Chloe first.

"Agent Ferris, Lugansky was killed by the same people who conducted the assault on the FBI field office earlier… I suspect the men chasing you and Chloe belong to the same outfit as well…" Jack quickly explained. "Those men are working for an Army General named Rawlins… He's the one who is responsible for everything that happened in the past few hours. He wanted the war between Russia and IRK to happen. The attacks on the FBI field office and IRK extremists' broadcast are all parts of his maneuverings to start a war between those two countries…"

"Jack, you mean the three-star General who asked you to take out Kirilenko this morning was actually the one who wants a war between Russia and IRK?" Chloe said in surprise and confusion. She recalled after they met up in her Santa Clarita storage space, Jack told her that General Rawlins asked him to deal with Kirilenko in an unofficial capacity to stop a possible war between Russia and IRK. With everything that was going on at the time, she didn't get a chance to ask Jack about Rawlins or dig deeper into the General's files.

"Yeah, Rawlins played me. He wanted Kirilenko taken out probably because he was afraid people might found out the truth behind the attack in Moscow through Kirilenko, hence de-escalating the tension between Russia and IRK. With Kirilenko dead, there was no way to prove the attack in Moscow 3 weeks ago wasn't the work of IRK operatives. Somehow, Rawlins found out about Renee and he knows she has the knowledge that can prove that so he's going after her. He's cleaning up loose ends." Jack explained quickly.

"Wait… Wait… Hold on… so you're saying a General of U.S Army is actually behind everything that happened in the past hours and he want to cause a war between Russia and IRK? Why the hell would he do that?" Sarah asked bluntly. She still found it very hard to believe that a high ranking member of U.S. military would do such things.

"I don't know what his motives are, but I'm certain he will do everything in his power to make sure both Russia and IRK are at odds with each other." Jack stated. At the same time, he also began sensing some doubts from Sarah over the phone. Understandingly, Jack knew that the young FBI agent probably won't believe him at first since he had no proofs, so he quickly added. "Look, Agent Ferris, I know this is hard for you to believe and you don't have to believe me right away, but right now, what's certain is that there are people who are coming after Renee, Chloe and me. They are probably coming after you as well so we need to work together… Chloe has a storage space in Santa Clarita can you to take her there? Renee and I will meet you there."

"Okay, we're on our way…" Even though Sarah was still unsure about what Jack had told her, but she knew he was right about one thing. Both Renee and Chloe are in danger, and she was not gonna stand idly by and let bad things happen to them. The thought of calling FBI or CTU for help actually crossed to her mind, but after Kristin Gordon's betrayal this morning and her hallowing encounter with those fake NSA agents, Sarah began to think that besides Renee, Jack, and Chloe, she couldn't trust anyone right now. Therefore, she decided to take Chloe to meet up with Jack and Renee first, hoping that they might have a plan to deal with all of these…

After seeing Jack hanged up the phone, Renee began to wonder about one of Sarah's questions. _Why would an U.S. Army General try to cause a war between Russia and IRK? What does he have to gain from that? _As she continued thinking of any possible motives, suddenly, she remembered what Lugansky had told her and Jack. The actual reason Russia invaded IRK was because the Russians thought IRK had stolen their military communication module, Module 67, hence compromising their defense network. _What if that thing is what that Army General was after?_ Upon realizing the possibility, she quickly shared it with Jack.

"Jack, remember what Lugansky told us. The reason Russia invaded IRK was because they thought their military communication module was stolen by IRK… But since those men who attacked the FBI field office and grabbed Lugansky at the time are working for Rawlins, so what if the module is actually what Rawlins wants, and he uses the war between those two countries to cover his tracks…"

After hearing what Renee said, Jack knew she might be on to something, but at the same time, he couldn't help but to wonder were the war and the theft of Module 67 all part of Rawlins plan? What was that bastard's endgame? He pondered as his instinct kept telling him that this was not over yet. Plus, since he and Renee knew about the theft of Module 67, Rawlins got another reason gunning for Renee. Therefore, Jack thought in order to ensure Renee's safety, they needed to take that son of a bitch down fast.

"Renee, I think you might be on to something. I'll have Chloe take a deeper look at the Module 67 stuff later but right now, we really need to get moving." Jack stated as he unlocked the doors of the blue pickup truck.

Renee nodded. Although she still hated the fact that she managed to drag Jack, Chloe, and Sarah into this mess, she knew that in order to make things right, they needed to take down this Rawlins character. However, Renee also thought that even if they managed to take down this formidable bastard, there was still the matter of Jack still being wanted by the Russians. _One thing at the time…_ She then reminded herself. Even though she didn't know how, one way or another, Renee was determined undo the damages she had caused in Jack's life.

**1:58:03**

After talking to Jack and Renee over the phone and knowing they were alright, Chloe was immensely relieved. However, with Jack being framed for the murder of the Russian Foreign Minister and General Rawlins trying to take out both him and Renee, her relief was immediately offset by the high level of anxiety. Even though she and Jack had found themselves in similar situations before in the past, Chloe was still worried. Considering what they were up against, she just hoped that Jack has a plan in mind. Just as she was pondering her thoughts, all of the sudden, Sarah's phone rang again. To her surprise, she saw a familiar number displayed on the screen of the cell phone. It was Morris' number. _How did Morris get Agent Ferris' phone number?_ Chloe wondered, but at the same time, she knew that Morris must be worried sick since he probably heard about the attack in the FBI field office and had been trying to reach her like crazy. _Hope he didn't committed any cyber-crime in process…_ Without suspecting a thing, Chloe answered the call.

"Morris, how did you get Agent Ferris' number? Please don't tell me you hack into the DOJ database again…"

"Honey, I'm so sorry…they…" Morris said in a panic and scared voice. However, before he could finish his sentence, he was cut off. All of the sudden, Chloe heard an unfamiliar voice.

"Oi! Lady, my employer wants to speak to you..." A man with thick English accent said, and then the call was immediately transferred to another man.

"Mrs. O'Brian… Right now, all you need to know is that, we have your husband and son. Who we are does not matter…" Kessler said in his usual cold and yet professional demeanour. At the same time, he was also looking at one of the LCD TV screen on his TV wall. The TV screen actually displayed the secured video feed from Morris' vacation home in London, where two armed men held both Morris and his son, Prescott, at gun point. They were both zip-tied to separate chairs and they looked beyond terrified. After going over Chloe O'Brian's files, it did not take long for Kessler to track down where her husband and son are, considering they were both civilians. Luckily for Kessler, he still had some connections to Britain's criminal underworld. Although he did not like to work with outside amateurs like the two bozos he just hired over the phone in this case, consider the extremely short time frame he had to work with he pretty much had no other choices. Plus, it was a pretty simple job and he was monitoring the situation through the secured video feed. Therefore, he remained confident that this little plan of his will go off without a hitch.

"…What matters is that you do what we say. If you refuse to comply in any way, then your both your husband and son will meet their unfortunate end. If you mention this conversation between us to anyone, including Jack, Renee, and that little FBI agent friend of yours, we'll cut our losses as well… Try to act as nothing happened. We'll contact you with your further instructions along with the proof of life shortly." Kessler added, and then he quickly hanged up, leaving an absolutely mortified Chloe completely frozen in the passenger seat…

**01:59:57...01:59:58...01:59:59...02:00:00**

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**Hope you guys enjoy the story. Please let me know what you think :)**

**Some Random Thoughts and Ramblings**

**Jack & Renee vs. General Rawlins: **This is actually one of the areas I had most trouble coming up with ideas since Rawlins pretty much had Jack and Renee cornered and there was no way they could avoid the missile attack from an attack drone (which is one of the many reasons attack drones are such fearsome weapon in the 21st century). Granted, they could hide into a building or an underpass, but since Rawlins wasn't care about collateral damage at that point so it wouldn't make any difference. After stuck with this for a while, I managed to find some inspirations in Michael Mann's movie 'Collateral'. In one of the movie's deleted scenes, Tom Cruise's assassin character Vincent actually instructed the cab driver (played by Jamie Fox) to pull into L.A.X in order to lose the FBI air and ground surveillance teams that were tracking them since air space around L.A.X was restricted. I thought it was a pretty nice move so I had Jack pulled the similar stunt to avoid Rawlins' drone. Granted, it was probably a bit unrealistic that Jack was able to out-maneuver drone surveillance that easy, but since it is 24 so let's just chuck that to creative liberty (LOL).

**Medical situation involving Sarah Ferris:** I know in real life she probably wouldn't be on her feet that fast, let alone getting into gunfight with mercenaries in the parking garage, but then again, Tony Almeida was up on his feet and running CTU after getting shot on his neck in Day 3 (For some reason miracles always happen to that guy LOL) so maybe having Sarah on her feet that quick after her surgery might not be a stretch in the world of 24. Plus, didn't Jack got accidentally stabbed in the gut by Renee and still was able to carry on through the rest of the day?

**Kessler, fake CTU TAC Team, and fake NSA agents:** I'll admit when creating Kessler and his mercenary outfit, I kinda drew some inspirations from Simon Gruber and his cohorts from 'Die Hard with a Vengeance', especially the part where Kessler's men disguised themselves as CTU TAC team and NSA agents. By the way, I know it was somewhat of a stretch for Kessler to be able to hire goons to break into Morris' place in London and hold Morris and Prescott hostage in such short period of time, but this is '24' so…

**Chloe O'Brian: **For me, Chloe was a hard character to write. I really hope I did a somewhat acceptable job on her in this chapter, considering this chapter was a bit Chloe centered. In addition, originally I was gonna try to get this chapter done before Christmas Day. However, after I finished the end of the chapter, I kinda realized that the ending involving Chloe's family being held hostage by Kessler's men wasn't really that suitable for family holidays like Christmas so I decided to push the chapter back for a few days. Hoe you guys don't mind.

**Islamic Republic of Kamistan:** Since IRK is based on the real life Iran, so it pretty much mean IRK is probably also a signatory of CWC (Chemical Weapon Convention).

**Final thought:** Again, I must stress, like previous chapters, I took some creative liberties on a lot of stuff, especially on the law enforcement protocols and procedures, medical situations, military hardware, and international politics. I really hope I did a somewhat acceptable job to make those stuffs as grounded as possible.

**Additional Stuff: General Rawlins' Plan**

(I want to add this to help clarifying some aspects of General Rawlins' overall plan at this point. A big thanks to Brendan for summarizing the stuff!)

General Rawlins knew about Kirilenko's plan to chemically bombed Moscow and let him play out his hand, so the tension between Russia and Kamistan would go high. He wanted Russia to go to war with Kamistan so Suvarov and the Russian government can be distracted while he and Kessler decrypt Module 67 without the Russian's knowledge that they compromised their communications network. Rawlins was also trying to tie up loose ends so his operation will be secured, as well as planning to have Lugansky kidnapped and delivered to Karim Zahir and his IRK extremeist group while Kessler's men obtain Module 67. He recruited Jack to kill Kirilenko because he wanted someone who would have a grudge against him and he picked Jack because he thought he would be the man to do it since Kirilenko was the actually one who helped Red Square obtaining the uranium rods, which means he's one of the conspirator who had a hand Omar Hassan's assassination and Renee's supposed death, which would trigger Jack into accepting his top-secret assignment.

If Kirilenko was killed, they would have taken the secondary route, but that failed because Kirilenko had a motive of his own. Therefore, Rawlins prepared another contingency to get to Luganksy, which led to Kessler's men invading the FBI LA office to take Lugansky and destroy the evidence. Now that Russia thought Kamistan have Module 67, they went to war with them as Rawlins' planned. But now, he is after Renee because she could possibly ruined his secret operation since she has the knowledge that Kirilenko was the man who chemically bombed Moscow, not the IRK radicals as reported.


End file.
